Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Title: Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Playtime: 105 min.

Genre: Action Drama Sci-Fi.

Release Date: 5 August 2011

Yet another Hollywood movie has had its' grand opening, with all its' glory and fame, plus the loads of cash that comes with it.
Starring actors arrive one-by one at the red carpet, eager to see the result of their hard work, not only in front of the camera, but also every challenge they've had to face on the way. Getting into shape, learning to know your character, and interracting with new people.
They sit there, waiting for the crowds' praise and the critics' approval while watching themselves act in front of greenscreens or through take 21 in that funny scene they never nailed.
I could go on writing about my dream-job forever, but I'm not that certain I'll experience it some day...
Enough of my sad hopes and dreams, I have a movie to review, and hopefully, you're waiting to read it!

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (RPA from now on, the swedish title "Planet of the Apes: (R)evolution" was more fitting) is supposed to be a prequel to the classic film Planet of the Apes.
It's a story about the fall of human and the rise of apes, and gives the audience a whole new perspective on how it all happened.
Admit it, all you knew about the old movie was that some intelligent apes had taken over the planet after the human race somehow went near-extinct. Kind of diffuse information you haven't had confirmed.
Anyway, as the movie begins, we're thrown into the jungle somewhere around Africa (I presume), and the hunt for primates has just started.
Some apes are caught and brought in to a lab, where they will be test-subjects for an experimental drug called ALZ-112. This very drug has been created by Will Rodman (James Franco) as a cure for alzheimer's patients, and amongst them, his own father.
Some things (I don't want to spoil the movie) go wrong and the project is being cancelled while Will Rodman is threatened to be fired.
Will aquires a baby ape, the only to survive after the lab-shutdown, and notices how fast the primate is developing intellectually. Will and his father decides to name him Caesar, after the roman emperor.
A drama sequence begins where we see how Will is teaching the ape sign language, taking IQ-tests of it, and letting him climb freely in the redwood park.
There's a very beautiful timeskip of 5 years, and the ape is now fully-grown and full of energy and power.
An accident causes the ape to be locked away with other primates in chance that he will calm down and get to know his fellow kind.
Caesar quickly grows from being the bullied one with few friends to a respected leader amongst the primates. He does this with his cunning intelligence and the respect from a few apes. The longer Caesar is imprisoned, the madder he becomes at Will and the rest of the human race.
An adding factor to this is the pranking punk Dodge Landon, displayed by none other than Tom Felton. (Oh yes, it's Malfoy).
How will Caesar react to his treatment? and will the drug enhance the human braincells as it did to the apes?

James Franco is an actor rapidly growing on me, and I've come to respect him as an outstanding actor. I really like how he's not the typical actor, who can only play the same role in every movie.
I hope I'll see him in other grand films in the future.

Tom Felton... may the gods take him, he's easy to hate. To not get misunderstood, I don't hate the actor, but every part he plays, as a punk who has a nasty habit of teasing everyone. I think he plays that role very well, but as I believe that's all there is to him.

I really enjoyed some "hidden" references in the movie, (e.g. have in mind that Caesar is played by the same actor as the one playing Gollum in Lord of the Rings).
A certain crew missing in space is also mentioned throughout the film.

Moments not quite in my taste:
The stupidity of humans.
Not as much action as one could hope.

Best Quote: NOOOOO!

I think this is a well-worthy sequel to the Planet of the Apes films, and it contained everything to make it clear how the first movie started and everything between it.

This movie gets the rating 8 out of 10.