Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Review: This film really sets this saga off on a great start. It is so epic and really presents the whole weight of everything happening. The special effects are obviously STELLAR and I always love to give a shoutout to Andy Serkis, the Mo-Cap LEGEND. The effects make it easy to distinguish between the different apes, but so do the personalities given to them (aside from Caesar, I’d say Maurice is my favorite). The human characters are also no slackers though with James Franco & John Lithgow playing such emotional roles and the supporting cast of Logan Roy, Draco Malfoy, and Martin Luther King Jr., all play their parts to a tee. Jokes aside, Tom Felton does such a good job of making you want to punch him in the face. I think it’s quite the feat of the filmmakers to make the humans so hate-able when we innately should want to root for them.

High: The high of this film for me has got to be all the world building and development that happens in less than two hours. It never feels like too much is packed in and the ending really makes you feel like the world is ending (which is affirmed in the sequels).

Low: Personally, I think the romance between James Franco’s Will & Freida Pinto’s Carolina felt unnecessary. It didn’t really take up too much screen time so it’s not that big of a deal, but just an improvement I think could’ve been made.

Rating: 8/10