I've always been a huge fan of the story, meaning that I've watched all of the remakes and the original. I've even seen the TV series that aired in the 70s on CBS. I find the concept interesting and imaginative whilst still relative in today's society. There is still a real social anxiety surrounding animal testing and the lengths we go to for science. And with a film like this, that shows a fictional outcome for extreme testing, this particular anxiety isn't going anywhere fast. But, forget everything that has come before because the new reboot, which launched in 2011 with Rise of The Planet of The Apes, is spectacular.
Opening on warning announcements and a small montage of television reports, the audience quickly learns that most of civilisation has been wiped out by the ALZ-112 virus which was first encountered in the first film. Obviously, followed by the obligatory pan shot of a large, normally populated, city shrouded in trees and overgrown plant life. The first real action we see is a hunting scene as the apes find themselves some dinner. A wonderful opener, as we see the apes are humanised and have feelings, emotions and fears like their human counterparts. I'm always a bigger fan of films that make a real effort to open the film with a bang. Straight away, I sympathised with the apes and was almost more attached to them than I was to the humans after they were first introduced. The apes were as scared of the humans as they were of them, they just hid it slightly better. That particular saying is true of so many animals that we disregard and cower from in fear of being attacked.
The film continued to impress throughout with epic battles, tense scenes between Malcolm (the human's leader) and Caesar (the ape's leader) and some touching moments of real humanity from both sides. One particular interaction that stood out was on the lake. The humans were recovering from an accident inside the Dam when Caesar's young son started to play and interact with them. The scene goes from tender and rather reminiscent of the relationship between Caesar and Will Rodman from the first film, to aggressive and upsetting as one of the humans angers the apes by hitting the young monkey. This, of course, causes further strain on the partnership between man and animal.
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It would be stupid not to mention the special effects in a movie such as this. The biggest aspect of the film, the apes, were obviously not real - but you'd never be able to tell. Caesar and his followers were created using motion capture technology and this resulted in a real human element to their movements. I've always been a fan of Andy Serkis' work and was very happy when it was announced he would play Caesar in the reboot. He has such a talent for bringing animals and creatures to life. I'm just waiting for the day that he receives an OBE as recognition for his two decades of amazing work in the film industry.Finally, the ending. Wow. I'm so excited for the next film in the trilogy!
I've tried very hard to write this without any spoilers when all I really want to do is sit down with people who have watched it and dissect it properly for hours! And as a result of this, my review is a little bare. But you shouldn't let me form your opinion, go see the film (and the one before it, obviously) and see for yourself. Definitely one to watch this summer.
