By: Ernest F. Camel, III
Forget every ‘Planet of the Apes’ movie filmed before 2011! The new movie, ‘The Rise of the Planet of the Apes,’ directed by Rupert Wyatt fame, makes all those look like home movies. The same team that worked on ‘Avatar’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ created the special effects.
The computer-generated imagery used to create the ape characters was so spectacular that you felt that they were real primates. The main character, an ape named Caesar, is the offspring of another primate used in drug testing to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
Will Rodman, played by James Franco, wants to use Caesars mother to demonstrate how the drug increases brain function but an unwise decision on the part of the researchers leads to her demise.
A decision is made to kill all the primates in the study but Caesar is saved. Without giving the story line away, eventually all the primates are exposed to the brain functioning enhancing drug and this does not bode well for human.
The battle that ensues between the humans and primates is thrilling and action-packed, which was great because the first part of the movie is rather slow.
Other actor’s in the movie include, John Lithgow, who plays Will’s father and Frieda Pinto of Slumdog Millionaire fame. The movie ranked number one over the weekend grossing over $27 million and beating out “The Help”.
This movie is a must-see for all those who loved the other Planet of the Ape movies. Just be prepared for a riveting tall of how human manipulation of science and natural selection can backfire.
