Movie: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Last night I took my son to see the Rise of the Planet of the Apes. If you loved the series as a child this movie is terrific and provides a lot of the back story of Caesar. It is a sc-fi thriller with a little neuroscience and genetics thrown in.

The writing, acting and CGI is world class in this prequel to the classic Planet of the Apes.

But you can see that for yourself.

James Franco’s character stars as a scientist who is searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s which is father, John Lithgow is suffering from. He meets a love interest, veterinarian Freida Pinto previously form Slum Dog Millionaire and they fall in love. It is a story of love a loss and of innovation and corruption. In this cautionary Vonnegutisk tale, Science is the culprit waging war between Humans and Apes.

The script is solid and the acting performances are fantastic. For those old enough to remember The Planet of the Apes it is a terrific film and it has a broad enough demographic appeal and special effects to make it worth it for the younger viewers although I can report that it does seem to lack that certain appeal to the 16-24 age demographic because of the mature subject matter. I really enjoyed the film but my son kept pinching me to call the human society because he did not enjoy watching animal abuse. In a very natural sense this movie did come across as Curious George on Angel Dust and if for no other reason it is worth seeing all the action.