*WARNING: SOME SPOILERS MAY BE FOUND THROUGHOUT*
First off, I’d like to say I didn’t have high hopes for this movie. Mainly because it takes a huge steaming chimp poo over existing PotA canon i.e. it’s a reboot *groan*. But, since I’ve had enough of Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds for one Summer, and since I can’t find a theater close enough playing ‘The Devil’s Double’, this was the only logical choice. Surprisingly, it was a pretty good.
The story’s nothing we haven’t seen before in the science fiction genre: well meaning scientist (James Franco) creates a wonder drug that ends up having horrible consequences. In this case, it ends up leading to every ape in San Francisco gaining above human intelligence, having a revolution of sorts and escaping into what I believe is the Muir Woods, an ancient red wood forest outside San Fran, to live and propagate until they eventually rule the world. Sure, there’s plenty of happenings on in between, but I just summed up everything: Man’s bid to play God is the folly that leads to his downfall. So what makes this worth watching?
The special effects. Things explode, windows break, apes get shot at, helicopters come crashing down, iron fence bars are thrown as spears, ect. The CGI is also above decent. I stop short of calling it amazing, mainly because about half the time I could tell that main chimp Caesar (Andy Serkis) was computer generated. However, the motion capture work more than carries these moments of digital weakness, along with the other apes, who also look great. The realistically moving primates really are one of the movie’s strong points.
So, as far as reboots go, it’s not a bad film. The special effects go beyond the story, which isn’t nearly as improbable as I originally thought, but you’ll have to see it to understand what I mean. I give it 4/5 Fanboys.
