Most people have the pleasure of enjoying films on the big screen. Unfortunately, my wife and I have far too much respect to drop the kids off at the in-law’s house for every big release. This means that we have to wait to see the “best” movie releases. I hate this personally, and every now and then I feel like saying, “screw it! let’s go enjoy this on the big screen!” Fortunately, we have a pretty nice setup at home and when we visit family, they also have pretty nice home theater set ups. All year I have heard how incredible Rise was. Like any skeptic, I was in ‘yeah right’ mode. Having been completely disappointed by films like Avatar, both the strange blue Avatar and the M Night Avatar, better known as, The Last Airbender, I’m just not as excited about feature films that utilize CGI.
When my mom in law called for a movie night and Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the film, I was kind of like, “I’m looking forward to the fried fish and chicken wings. At least I would have a great night with the fam while I was underwhelmed by another poor story supported by action and CGI sequences covering up the lack of a storyline. Then the film started.
If you’ve read my reviews before I typically layout the cast here, but I am going to refrain from doing that and simply link to the IMDB page. I will write one name: Andy Serkis. Andy Serkis performs the acting for the CGI Chimp: Caesar who is the foundation of this film. Okay backstory/plotline, this film is a prequel to the Charleton Heston, Jon Coffey led films that have been released. Now if you remember these, you may have felt the same way I did when I heard that there was a new Planet of the Apes. The film poses the question of how far science should go to generate cures for disease. The philosophical conversation on nature vs nurture is also one of the underlying themes. Also broached by the incredible core of writers (Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver) is another somewhat played discussion on servitude. While the story could have easily delved into a corny attack on race or the God complex, the film allows a CGI generated character to control the story which could have gone horribly wrong, but actually went incredibly right.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was possibly one of the best films I’ve seen… ever. I really want to write more, but anything I say could not compare to the film. I really want to curse and say something corny like, “Buy this mf movie, and watch the ish out of it…” but that would be kind of tacky. So I will just say this, watch the film and add something to this conversation. I’m really interested in everyone else’s opinion and thoughts and whether you think I’m overreacting.
