Review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) by Frank R — 02 Aug 2017

The only reason I scored this so low is because I felt like I was watching two films. On the one hand, we have the story of a scientist that seeks to cure his father of degenerative disease, with the support of his hyper-attractive girlfriend. On the other, we have the story of Caesar, said scientist's pet experiment, and his eventual rise to being the leader of a simian revolution. I really liked the latter and hated the former. I didn't care about the dying father, I didn't care about the slapdash and totally useless love interest, I didn't care about the stereotypical bad pharma exec, and James Franco (who is entertaining every once in a blue moon) was simply too much of a kid for the role. It needed a MAN to counterbalance the sheer presence and compelling story of the apes. Franco offers as much gravitas as a 12-year-old's dance playlist on Spotify.

The use of contemporary CGI technology to make the apes truly come alive was astounding. We're not quite at a point where CGI is undetectable, but man, it's getting close.