Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a movie that ties itself to the first Planet of the Apes that starred Charlton Heston. To me, it was more of a prequel movie to the original. It also answers a lot of questions that the 2nd Planet of the Apes that starred Mark Wahlberg left out. The movie with Mark Wahlberg really was annoying and strayed so much from the original that it frustrated me throughout the movie. If you are a purist and love your classics, I think you will really enjoy this new Planet of the Apes. Throughout the movie there are tiny moments that take you to the original, including some quotes from Charlton Heston.

The movie is about a scientist (James Franco) who is on the verge of discovering a cure for Alzheimer's. He uses chimps as his experimental subjects and notices a remarkable increase in neurological function and the brain seems to repair itself. Will, the scientist, acquires a baby chimp that he raises on his own. The chimp, Caesar, grows up and his intelligence, reasoning and IQ increase exponentially. Caesar struggles with his "identity" and because of an accident he is confined to an animal rescue type facility. There, he leads a rebellion with the other apes against the humans.

The movie does not have any sexual scenes nor does it have a lot of bad language, just the f--- word is used once. There are several scenes that are uncomfortable. One of the trainers abuses the apes several times and Caesar also gets abused by the apes he is confined with. Thankfully, it is very tame and not gory.

The animation and CG is phenomenal! Caesar's facial expressions are remarkable and there is no need for him to express himself with words. There are many times in the movie that you forget that the apes are only animation. The "battle" scene at the end is superb. You definitely root for the underdog throughout the whole scene. There are several very funny scenes and the movie definitely caters to those who love the original movie. The movie is sprinkled with references to the original and it definitely ties all loose ends that the original left behind. While the 2nd Planet of the Apes left you wondering and confused. This Planet of the Apes gives you an understanding of how we ended up with Planet of the Apes, the original, in the first place.

This movie does tug at the emotional heart strings and really emphasizes why man should never play God. 

I recommend this movie to anyone that likes sci-fi and who loves their classics.

For Christians: I do not believe this movie really caters to evolutionists. On the contrary, the apes "evolve" only because man tinkered with them genetically. The apes do stand almost erect like man, although there is no reason for them to stand straighter. The apes are given a more "human" like face but that is only to make clear of their intelligence. There is no mention of evolution and scientifically, genetic mutations do not add information to DNA.The apes did not get smarter because of evolution, they became smarter because of man.

I give this movie 9 out of 10 stars.

The movie is rated PG-13 for intense and frightening sequences of action and violence.
Running Time: 120 minutes