465: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's get into the first movie which is Rise of the Planet of The Apes.

[00:00:05] [SPEAKER_00]: This one came out in 2011, directed by Rupert Wyatt, stars James Franco and he circus as Caesar,

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_00]: great apinto, Karen Connovol, John Lithgow, David O'Yellowwoke,

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_00]: can never say that name right, sorry, and few others.

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And the synopsis is a substance designed to help the brain repair itself

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: gives advanced intelligence to chimpanzee who leads an ape up rising.

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I think this trilogy as a whole, I do prefer if I had to pick, I prefer the latter two movies,

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: but getting this franchise off the ground, getting it back into relevance, so to speak.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: This movie did that pretty darn well.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I love one thing just right at the bat talking animals, I love.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that the world of the planet of the Apes is so fascinating and has so many interesting political ideas, emotional resonance,

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and especially with these movies, Caesar, and it gets even better in the latter two films,

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: but any circus of course is that underrated hero of a lot of these movies as well as his work in

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, there are things, but that character is so well written, there is such resonance and power and strength and thoughtfulness

[00:01:27] [SPEAKER_00]: and how they constructed that character both writing, design, effects, everything about Caesar, I love it.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_00]: He's one of my favorite characters probably in all of cinema, I just love that character so much.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And when it comes to James Franco and his character, he would be the weaker part in terms of lead characters.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: He is pretty much just the straight guy, like the nice guy who looks out and cares for Caesar.

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And I do like in terms of emotional aspects, the quest for him to try and cure his father of Alzheimer's or his cure Alzheimer's in general,

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and I think anyone who has had a loved one deal with something like Alzheimer's and you just hoping for a match,

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: well cure, I think anyone can relate to that in that way. And so I really like that aspect, although of course it does go terribly wrong when the apes get a hold of it in various ways.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: So all that is interesting and I feel like I don't want to bore anybody, but I want to also give this movie it's due just as because I feel like most of my comments are fairly shallow like oh well it was entertaining.

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It had a good action, it had a few thoughtful touching moments, good performances, that sort of thing.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_00]: But when it comes to the movie itself and critiquing it there's not a lot of super deep or really amazing things about it,

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_00]: it's just very, very solid in terms of a reboot whereas the other two, there's more specific my new parts to talk about that a little bit more interesting.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_00]: But the ending action sequence with the prison break, that's great and the jerk caretaker played by Malfoy Tom Felton.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: He's not an amazing actor, let's be real but I think he does a pretty decent job at playing the jerk in this and you are definitely not upset at least I wasn't when he gets his due justice.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's also something to be said in terms of his character where an M-sure everyone knows someone like this where people will make faces at animals and apes and there's something to be said about that kind of person in terms of getting an immediate reaction is to how they view animals and I think that that's a very easy way to show someone's true colors when it comes to relationships with animals and caring for animals and it's very easy to

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_00]: hate him in this and again you're not upset when he gets taken care of so to speak but that final epic action sequence where they're running through San Francisco the suspense sequence on the bridge with the fog, the gorilla attacking the helicopters really good.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And just the sort of I guess you call it a twist on these zombie apocalypse invasion sort of action sequence where the apes are causing complete mayhem and chaos in the heart of San Francisco and vehicles being thrown around and people are running like crazy like it's a really good and really elevated better take on that sort of action sequence and that is a great end to that movie and even if they're hadn't been another movie after this like if it had flopped.

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And still would have been a great standalone film and what have led you on in terms of a teaser but still a very standalone story and not only that, but if you haven't seen any of the apes movies either the originals or these you easily could start with this one and understand it get an understanding of the world.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_00]: So that's a strength on and so because you don't always get that with reboot sometimes it's too much carrying over from the originals or it's too new this one is a great little middle ground where it anyone and everyone could.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Get into that story and understand at least that to a certain degree so still holds up quite well just doesn't totally rise to the heights of the latter to.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So that one is a light four and a half out of five.