Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) Quick Review

 
Where to begin...I was never a fan of either the original or the Tim Burton remake. I honestly did not know what to expect when I walked into Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Well, my experience was not bad, actually. The film is about, well, the title says it all. James Franco portrays a scientist, an unbelievably good-looking one, who is researching the cure for Alzheimer's Disease.

Apart from the scientist and Caesar, the ape, all the other characters serve no true purpose other than to piss the audience off by building hatred towards a certain character, who we later see get it pretty bad by the apes. Ehem! Draco Malfoy. Ouch. Anyway, Jon Lithgow plays James Franco's dad, who has a bad case of Alzheimer's Disease, and, well, plays the "sick" dad that he is trying to save. Freida Pinto plays a dull girlfriend, who we never really get personal with, so in the end, I kept asking myself, "So, what happened to her, again?" Anyway, as the film progresses and Caesar becomes more intelligent, we begin to ask ourselves, "Where do we draw that fine line between right and wrong?" The only deep message I got out of this movie was that one question. When do we, as humans, have the right to keep the freedom of another life form away from them? Well, the movie perfectly sums it up and we face the ugly consequences. No surprises, literally. Keep note that i've heard some ugly arguments that the film is "racist" because it's supposedly an allegorical portrayal of blacks overcoming the whites after all these years, but let's face it...that's not the message.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes serves as pure entertainment and it succeeds at it, but there underlies social inequalities and the consequences one can bring upon everyone when they play God for too long. The special effects were average in certain scenes, but shined in others, as well, which gave me mixed feelings about where all the budget really went to. Overall, it's a fun, and one of the more "thoughtful" mainstream, action films with good performances.

Grade: B-