I finally caught up to Rupert Wyatt’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” tonight and thoroughly enjoyed every frame. It’s easily the best blockbuster of the summer season and, I’d say, the best film of the franchise (including the classic first installment, which is far better as a concept than it is as a film). It’s also a real shame Fox couldn’t build some steam by showing it earlier and getting the word out, because I think a bigger box office might have been in the cards. We’ll see how it does Sunday, but for now, midnight screenings should be letting out shortly on the east coast. I’d love to hear your thoughts, so head on back here with them when you get around to the film this weekend.
Comments
56 responses to “Tell us what you thought of ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’”
I just don’t see anything to get excited about. Every human character was terribly written and in most cases, terribly performed. And the rest is just a bunch of computer generated apes swinging around, pausing once in a while for an emotional close-up to gain audience sympathy. Give me a break. Not one shred of nuance anywhere. It’s all black and white, root for this guy and not this one, paint by numbers, fill in the blanks, who cares?
The only part I liked was when Caesar turned Lithgow’s fork around for him.
Before I get accused of hating everything again, I would highly recommend checking out Attack the Block, which I quite liked.
Aren’t most action movies black and white?
I don’t recall Die Hard, T2, Matrix having much nuance but they are all pretty great.
I’m sort of with Chad here, even if I found the film pretty painless to watch. I do feel that the supposedly extraordinary relatability of the ape characters is regrettably inflated by the film’s utterly flat human component. And I found the pacing curiously off — the build-up is so detailed as to be pedantic, but the titular revolution is both cramped and needlessly curtailed. It’s polished and generally absorbing — if not as inspired in its craft as those super effects might lead one to expect — but I can’t share in the excitement here.
Kris: I actually read something about the moment Ceasar speaks a while back, I even asked Sasha Stone about the presumabley pivatol moment in the comment section of her review. Even knowing that it’s coming I’m still expecting a chilly effect. Hopefully I’ll get tiem to see it this weekend.
Chad: I would love to share your thoughts on “Attack the block,” at the moment, but that film will never get close to play near me. It’s a shame because it seems like it would have solid commercial potential.
(though in Polar Express, I think it dovetailed stylistically).
Did you like The Polar Express?