Review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) by Mattymjp — 24 Aug 2011

Man, it would have been so easy for this movie to be bad, I mean, how often does Tim Burton mess things up? But well done Rupert Wyatt because Rotpota (as I shall forever call it) is a suprisingly heartfelt, clever, and delicately handled movie. As we already knew Andy Serkis is a mo-cap (sorry performance capture) genius, the character of Caeser being by far the most interesting thing about the movie. The CGI was very nearly but not quite perfect, some scenes (ape swinging around the house) didn't look brilliantly realisitic but there were a number of shots where I genuinly thought they were filming real apes. Performances are fine but not great (anyone else find James Franco a bit wooden?). This movie left me wanting more, a rare thing with summer blockbusters nowadays. Bring on The Fight for the Planet of the Apes!

For a bit of extra fun keep an eye on James Franco's side-burns, on one particular scene they lost an inch from one shot to the next! And don't run out of the cinema as soon as the credits start rolling . . . .