Review: Rise of the Plant of the Apes
Rise of the Plant of the Apes James Franco plays a scientist perfecting a cure for Alzheimer’s but is forced to shut down his operation after one the chimps being tested on goes, well ape shit (sorry, had to). Being so near to the finish line and having to shut down the research process is a drag but Franco manages to save one little chimp, the unashamedly cute, ermmm, Andy Serkis or the Caesar, as they name him. Now, Caesar is a bit of a genius, having inherited the DNA of his lab tested mother he grows into a bit of an revolutionary for his kind. He sets himself the goal of freeing his kind from the oppression of mankind which leads to a series of anarchic events to say the least.
Now the performances, Franco is on form as scientist Will Rodman but he rarely puts a foot wrong so it’s the least we expect from the thespian. John Lithgow is engaging, but not enough to take the limelight from Caesar. Andy Serkis out does himself as Caesar which is expected since he has experience in this arena having played Kong Peter Jackson’s 2005 King Kong. Tom Felton doesn’t veer too far from his infamous Draco Malfoy character, playing another arse with a weird American accent this time. Finally, Freida Pinto doesn’t really have much to do and so isn’t particularly memorable, not awful but not great either, she’s quite vanilla.
The film is thoroughly enjoyable, there is not a moment of boredom, I didn’t check my watch thinking ‘when is this going to be over’ so that’s a good sign.
A great reboot, I look forward to the inevitable sequel.
