Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Year: 2011

Starring: James Franco, John Lithgow, Frieda Pinto

Directed By: Rupert Wyatt

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 105 Minutes

     When I first saw the preview for this movie, I thought, what a brilliant idea for a movie.  Take a classic movie and create a prequel to explain how apes took over the planet.  I thought it was brilliant, and really loved what they did with the teasers and trailers.  Each time I saw the preview, I really wanted to see this movie more and more.  I really hyped myself up for this movie, and by the time it came out, I was really worried that it was just going to be terrible.  WOW, I was pleasantly surprised when I see James Franco continue his great acting, and the story was incredible.  Following a day in the life of a genius ape just made this movie so much better.

     The movie begins with the capture of some chimpanzees in Africa.  I will warn all you, if you are not a fan of seeing animals being tested on or injured or even killed, just be aware that it happens in this movie, BUT there are all digital animals so its not real.  The same company who did the digital imaging for Avatar did the effects for this movie, so the apes look very, very realistic.  From there it follows James Franco, and scientist creating a cure for brain disorders.  He is ultimately trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's since his father, John Lithgow, suffers from it.  When he finds a successful strain in a subject chimp, he plans to present it to the board, when the chimp goes wild, and is killed.  They discover it was protecting a baby chimp, who becomes the main focus of the movie.

     When James Franco decides to keep the infant chimp instead of put it down, he discovers it is smarter than any other chimp.  It seems the strain they used in the mother, was passed to the baby in the womb, but changed him differently.  Throughout the movie you are following Caesar and James Franco, alternating between Caesar's new discovers, and downfalls, and James Franco continued push to cure brain diseases.  Caesar goes to protect John Lithgow when a neighbor is trying to fight him, and thus causes animal control to put him in an ape habitat.  This is where you follow Caesar and the "rise."

     I truly thought this movie was great.  Such a simple idea, such a great story, and such a good ending.  I will give this movie 4.5 our of 5 ALZ 113's.  Call me biased, but I thought this movie was really well done.  There were some corny parts, but a lot of parts in which make you think about how this could happen and that it is the cause of the famous 1968 movie Planet of the Apes.  I highly recommend, and have an open mind!  Remember, it is a movie, not a real scientific story.

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Twelve Monkeys

12 Monkeys

Year: 1995

Starring: Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt

Directed By: Terry Gilliam

Run Time: 129 Min

Rating: R

     What would you think if I said Monty Python and the Holy Grail in relation to this movie?  I'll get back to that later.  Just some food for thought.  12 Monkeys is what I call an apocalyptic film; in which it shows what our future could be like if certain events were to occur.  I am a big fan of these films for some reason; I like to concept and the creativity that people come up with to how the world will end.  I am not a pessimist nor do I believe any of them could happen (more on that in later posts) but this falls into that category. 

     Bruce Willis plays a character who seems to be in some sort of prison, and has committed a crime that we know nothing about.  Prisoners are chosen at random to go up the the surface of the Earth and to collect data to see if humans can go back to the surface.  A deadly virus was released in 1997, and caused humans to have to go under ground.  5 billion (5,000,000,000) people were killed; and the quest for retaking the planet from the animals is upon the future race of man.  This movie is a little unique in which it seems in the near future (from today) we will have an understanding of time travel, and have the capability to send someone through time, and retrieve them, but without very great accuracy.

     I liked this movie because it took a lot of different aspects and molded it into one.  Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Reality and absolute fantasy.  I touched on a couple of those, but lets look at the reality.  To think that one day in the future, and deranged lunatic animal lover could release a toxic chemical in the air that kills a lot of humans, isn't really all that far fetched.  Think about it... People are already crazed about animal rights and not eating anything that casts a shadow (name that quote) so is it really hard to believe that someone would do that?  In my eyes, no.  But lets be honest, it is completely improbably, but not impossible.  Back to the movie, Brad Pitt costars, as a crazed wild man who is the Creator of the 12 Monkeys group in which Bruce Willis is sent back in time to stop.  I will not give away the film like most critics do, but it does have a twist ending, and does give you a sense that Brad Pitt isn't that bad of an actor.

     All in all, I would give this movie maybe 6 to 7 monkeys (out of 12), possibly 8.  It was creative, and well made, but not really a movie that you would watch over and over again.  Surprisingly it is ranked on the IMDb top 250 at #175, right after "The Grapes of Wrath" and before "Casino".  Not a bad one to maybe rent one night if you are into a different Sci-Fi movie for the night.  Bruce Willis performance is worth the rent, as well as Pitt's.

     Back to my first question, watch this movie, then tell me if you really think that this director is the same as the guy who directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  You don't see many directors jump around in genre that much do you?

Again, feel free to post comment and let me know what you thought of the movie!

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