Rise of the Planet of the Apes. OK, first things first. So to be honest, I wasn’t expecting too much going into this, but I had heard some good things from random friends about this movie. As long as it isn’t related at all to the post 2000+ Tim Burton/Mark Wahlberg travesties, I thought. But good enough to watch while catching up with an old friend after grilling up some steaks, chillin on a couple PBRs and burnin some trees.

Actually, the movie is quite satisfying. Like many “disaster” (for lack of a better word) movies, the plotline builds on itself faster and faster, getting top heavy and cartwheeling climactically over and over again. In this case, the story of how the decline of man and rise of the ape began, In the Planet of the Apes saga.

[SPOILERS] Apes did this in a comically gratifying way. Cesar, and later the apes he recruits in his army, become smarter and smarter, and do crazier and more human-like things, lead us all into this inevitable march of their gained intelligence and capabilities. This leads to a lot of OH SHIT situations. My friends and I said that and laughed several times during our viewing: ‘OH SHIT HE SPOKE’ ‘OH SHIT HE’S BECOMING A DICTATOR’ ‘OH SHIT THEY HAVE SPEARS’ ‘OH SHIT HE’S RIDING A HORSE’ All they needed was Cesar learning to use a gun. Franco’s reaction when Cesar speaks to him is priceless: HUWHATTT???

James Franco’s Freaks and Geeks slacker vibe carries through into the movie, making him an odd choice for a brilliant workaholic scientist character. Also, John Lithgow was only really comprehensible for about 20 minutes of the movie. No, not just because his character has Alzheimer’s, but his portrayal of it was odd and cartoonish. Then there was Caroline, played by Freida Pinto, who’s character was so throw-away that I had to look up what her name was. Obviously stuck in there as a love interest device which really has no effect on how the plot unfolds. But I guess at least she has brains and beauty. And she’s pretty much the only female character in the movie. (Except for the Orangutang… I kept getting the feeling that it was a ‘she’)

Anyway all in all, it’s a good summer popcorn-munching flick. You get exactly what you want out of it: monkeys getting smart and crazy, riveting action sequences, displays of super powerful animal power, even a ‘Get your filthy paws off me you damn dirty ape!’ quote. You’ll have fun.

(Image from Wikipedia)