Sorry that I am a day late. I’m not gonna lie, yesterday was absolute chaos. My mother came into town from out of state, so I don’t get a ton of opportunities to see her. I took the day to catch up and enjoy her company, so unfortunately, this segment did suffer a bit. I asked my mother if she wanted to go see a film, The Change Up, as that would have been a second movie to add to this segment... and she didn’t want to see it. So, the only movie I had time to see this week was Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. Let’s get to it.

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

Cinematography 4/5

The CGI of this film was awesome. I was seriously surprised at how good it looked. That being said, I don’t think there was a real ape in the actual film, which threw me off a bit. Overall, the scenes were shot well, and some great shots of the California landscape was used. But, coming back to it again, the CGI was extremely realistic and well done. It had me convinced.

Acting 4/5

I really enjoy the versatility of James Franco. He had starred in some different movies over the years that have really stretched different aspects of his acting ability. From the Spider-Man series, to things like Pineapple Express and his role in Milk, I like to think he is a pretty versatile actor. I guess you could consider the apes actors considering most of them we just humans in suits using motion capture, and in that sense, they did a very convincing job. Also, Tom Felton, the actor that played Malfoy in the Harry Potter series did well, but his accent did come through once or twice. Oh, I almost forgot to mention John Lithgow. As a man who has a relative with a case of Alzheimer's in my life, I can’t commend Lithgow on his performance more. He really did a fantastic job.

Writing 3/5

Well, the movie was written as a movie with lots of science , but I’ll be honest, it didn’t have a lot of science in it. It was supposed to be how the apes rose to power, but seemed more like how the apes caused emotional issues with all of the humans. I know it sounds silly, but I seriously wish there was more science. I must say, I did enjoy the signing between the apes.

Editing 5/5

Finally, a movie that did it right. This movie was less than two hours long. Do you know how happy that makes me? I hate it when movies are longer than they need to be, and I’ve been seeing that more often lately. Either way, this movie was great in keeping things short and sweet. I really did enjoy the pace as well. It was a well balanced movie.

Story 4/5

I think the writers did a great job in making this prequel as good as it could be. It could have gone terribly wrong, but instead, they did a good job in keeping things organized and to the point. I don’t have anything negative to say. Now if you are wondering why I gave it a 4, it’s because the story wasn’t very deep. It was good, but didn’t quite click with me.

Sound 4/5

Very good and appropriate. The talking of the apes was fantastic even if the lines were limited. Overall, a very good aspect of the film.

Closing Comments 24/30

Overall, in keeping this simple, it was a great movie that I would recommend. The CGI really stood out to me and the story was fun and entertaining. Go see in theaters when you can.

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