Review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) by Chipperx — 05 Sep 2011

Prequel or reboot? Whatever the case, Rise Of The Planet of The Apes is a movie you cannot ignore. If you ever saw the original, you may have scratched your head and wondered: How am I supposed to believe that a world where talking apes who have overthrown humanity as the dominant species is possible? The riddle of the talking ape is finally solved: Man's experimentation on living chimpanzees created a Pandora's box which heralded the end! What I liked about this movie was its slow, logical pace, building to the eventual conclusion. Instead of being thrust into a world we question, we witness scientific "progress" - not uncommon in this day and age - which creates the dramatic tension and deus ex machina necessary for apes to overthrow us. James Franco and John Lithgow skillfully play great characters, but both actors take a back-seat to the work of Andy Serkis, who provides us with a living, breathing, emoting, CGI-bred Caesar. I always wondered exactly how Caesar learned to talk and to be the first ape to utter the word "No" - this movie gives us a compelling rationale behind the Planet of the Apes folklore. I look forward to more movies in this franchise - if they are anything like this one, they will be fantastic.

- Chipper F. Xavier, Esq.