Review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) by Joe M — 30 Sep 2013

Caesar the chimpanzee is the genetically altered product of medical research and when he becomes the victim of the mistreatment afforded to all research animals he uses his superior intelligence to escape captivity.

Well it seems that finally, after 43 years, the classic Planet Of The Apes has a worthy sequel! The latest instalment of the simian franchise takes the basic principle of the well meaning but weakly executed Conquest and combines it with elements of Greystoke to create an interesting animal orientated character study of a creature that's neither man nor ape.

Once again Andy Sirkis proves his incredible skill in breathing life into animated creations and although the cast of homo sapiens acquit themselves admirably, they all take a back seat to man's best computer generated friend.

It's also very nice to see a film in which the special effects actually facilitate the story instead of replacing it and as a result, Rise is one of the most intelligent and best sci-fis of recent years.

I hope that this is a sign of things to come. Well, not the apes taking over the world bit, obviously...