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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

[9.00/10] Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)


Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Full review: Ten years after Tim Burton's disasterous entry into the long-running franchise, director Rupert Wyatt brings us the latest "Planet of the Apes" installment, and much to our surprise, he not only manages to pull it off, but he delivers arguably the best and most entertaining of all "Apes" films released since 1968. Story-wise, "Rise of the Apes" doesn't really break any new grounds, and its plot feels a bit familiar here and there, however the lack of true originality is compensated by the smartly-written script, the fantastic cast, and the absolutely slick and spot-on execution. Moreover, the movie's perfectly smooth pacing and 'evolutionating' plot development draw us more and more into the story as the movie progresses. Some minor faults aside, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is as visually-breathtaking, as it's absorbing. Rupert Wyatt does such an incredible job behind the camera, it's really hard to believe that this is just his second full-length film. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is so skilfully-shot and creatively-composed, it feels more like Wyatt has a huge directing career behind his back. He provides us with tons of fluid, yet dynamic camera movements, plenty of inventive angles and lots of diversity, and the end result is nothing short of spectacular. The settings are excellent, both indoor and outdoor, but it's the visual effects that make the biggest impression. All of the apes shown in the movie are stunningly-designed, deeply-detailed, incredibly realisitc and crafted to perfection. Although the action comes a bit late in the film, it's striking, brilliantly-staged and worth every second of waiting. Apart from Rupert Wyatt's amazingly stylish direction, and the absulutely first-rate special effects, the most impressive thing about the latest "Apes" movie is Andy Serkis' sensational performance as Ceaser. He brings the ape to life in a very believable and natural way, and he turns in one of the most memorable non-human performances in history of cinema. James Franco grew so much as an actor over the past couple of years, it's really fascinating. Last year he blew us away in Danny Boyle's "127 Hours", and now he delivers another strong, mature and convincing performance as the tough, yet sensitive young scientist, Will Rodman. The beautiful Freida Pinto know for her role in another Boyle film, "Slumdog Millionaire" gives a solid supporting performance as Will's love interest, Caroline. John Lithgow also delivers in his formidable role as the nutty, yet sympathetic father who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

Overall summary: Featuring innovative direction, clever writing, brilliant performances and some of the most polished CGI effects ever put on film, and filled with action-packed thrills and electrifying moments, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is the best, most gripping and visually-striking movie of the summer so far, along with "X-Men: First Class".

30 comments:

Unknown said...

Great review, but I'm still not induced to see this. So for my money, I'll be enjoying Conan, Fright Night, Colombiana and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, thank you very much. :) Still, this is a very cool, well-written and thoughtful review.

I did enjoy Wyatt's earlier film, The Escapist. It was very powerful so down the road eventually at some point when there's nothing else on, I will maybe watch his monkey movie. ;)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Serkis made the film for me. His performance was so convincing and human. Some of the scenes were tough to watch, as you really felt for Caesar. Excellent film - glad you got to see it!

Maynard Morrissey said...

Yay, looks like we both love this movie! :-)

Great review for a really awesome movie.
You're absolutely right, it's hard to believe that this comes from a quite unexperienced youngster-director.

One of 2011's absolute best movies so far!

LoneIslander said...

You know I am really suprised. I thought that it would suck. Guess I'll have to watch it then.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Mel, you could have told me it wasn't his debut film. LOL. I should have checked before I start to write this bullshits. I'm a bit ashamed of myself, but the truth is the fatigue got the best of me over the past few weeks.

Hon, don't be prejudiced about it! I'm not a big fan of the franchise myself, but this entry has NOTHING to do with the previous ones and it's absolutely terrific. I promise you that if you don't check it out, you may miss out A LOT! Thanks, sweetheart, glad you enjoyed my review.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Alex, absolutely! He blew us all away with his performance as Ceaser. All of my mates were more attached to him than any other of the characters.

I wouldn't miss it for anything. I was so excited the other day on my way to the theater. :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Maynard, we obviously do. :)

Thanks, mate. Glad you liked it, I tried my best to deliver a good review for this incredible movie!

Definitely one of 2011's best film so far.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

LoneIslander, you know what? I was surprised as well. I expected it to be another mediocre "Apes" entry, but it ended up being the most entertaining movie of the summer.

Welcome back, buddy. I somehow forgot to mention you on my anniversary post, but I fixed that mistake already :)

Doralynn Kennedy said...

I'm glad I looked at this review. I hated Tim Burton's mess so much that I hadn't even considered going to see this one. But I love a smartly-written script, and of course a fantastic cast, so I'll have to get check this one out... I'm notoriously slow... but at least now I want to watch it.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Doralynn, I'm also glad you did that. :) Believe me, this one has nothing to do with Tim Burton's crappy installment, nor with the previous ones. It was hugely engrossing, clever and truly eye-catching. Check it out as soon as you can. You won't regret it.
Oh, and I'm glad I changed your mind about it. ;)

Unknown said...

Agreed with your take and most of the commenters here that it was a great film. Like Alex mentioned, Andy Serkis was a powerful actor in the film and made me feel invested in it.

X-Men: First Class, HP7.2 and Rise. My top favourites this Summer are the same as yours! :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

J-Son, Sarkis was definitely the highlight of the film. We all felt connected with his character I reckon :)

The same? Yay for shareing the same 'summer movie' taste. :)

Unknown said...

Me, prejudiced? Never! LMAO Caesar just really creeps me out in the trailer. It's like they did a CGI meld of Serkis with a real chimp so you could see what a love child from Andy and a chimp would look like. Blech! Ok and now that THAT image is my head, I think I need to bleach my cerebral cortex. ;)

Sorry I didn't say anything. :( I think I was going to mention it, but forgot and did the whole send process. I'm getting old and I had a brain fart. ;)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Mel, I thought they did a great job wit visualizing Caeser. He may look a bit creepy to you in the beginning, but I'm sure you'll feel attached to him later in the movie.

No, you didn't forget, hon... You were just too polite ;)

Patricia Stoltey said...

I want to see this soon. To prepare, my husband and I watched the original Planet of the Apes last weekend. It will be fun to see all the amazing differences in story and technology.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Patricia, as I said before, the latest Apes movie has nothing to do with the first movie. I mean that in a good way, coz "Rise" is way better than the original. I hope you and your husband enjoy it. :)

Thakns for the comment.

Mark said...

Great reviews! Glad I found this site:)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Thanks, Mark, and welcome to CineMarvellous! :) I hope to see you here more often. Thanks for the follow as well. I followed back. ;)

Life, Liberty and Accountability said...

Yeah I've only heard good things about this film, but I just haven't been able to get out and see it yet :(

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Kid, you've heard it right. "Apes" is absolutely brilliant in almost every aspect. You should check it out as soon as you can.

Maurice Mitchell said...

9 out of 10? Wow. I'm really excited to see this now.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Maurice, absolutely. It definitely deserves its rating. It was so superbly-crafted and gripping, it left me speechless. Check it out ASAP.

Dan O. said...

Great Review! I wasn't actually expecting to be as moved as I did from this material but Serkis just really channeled the inner ape within him, and nails this perfect motion-capture performance as Caesar. I also sure as hell hope that he doesn't get snubbed as well. He already did for LOTR!

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Dan, thank you so much. I'm happy you liked it. :)

Absolutely! I wasn't expecting it to be that emotional, but Serkis added another dimension to his ape character. I was blown away by him and the movie as a whole. Serkis' performance was by far the most memorable of 2011.

Unknown said...

Great review, this movie IS breath-taking!

Lesya said...

9 points! That is awesome and I agree with every word you've written! Maybe, except for Burton's adaptation for I haven't seen it. I know it was bad though.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Minoccio, thank you so much for the compliment, and, yes, Apes was nothing short of fantastic!

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Lesya, absolutely. It think this amazing films deserves a rating as high as 9. :) Burton's entry wasn't necessarily terrible, but it was a big disappointment indeed.

Kaijinu said...

saw this. loved it. can't wait. For Sequel.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Kaijinu, saw it twice and loved it even more the second time. One word - brilliant!