I saw what can only be described as the best movie ever over the weekend, I am of course talking about The Change-Up, but Rise of the Planet of the Apes was really good too.
The acting in the film was absolutely wonderful. James Franco is so good at acting he can pull off a pot-head in one film and a scientist in the next. Freida Pinto was mostly good, apparently she was in Slumdog Millionaire, but it's been a while since I've seen that so I can't really analyze her acting fairly. Andy Serkis getting CGIified, pretty good, made me feel for the ape. John Fucking Lithgow, it's John Lithgow, he's just awesome. Brian Cox was good, but he reminded me way too much of James Lipton for some reason. Tom Felton pretty much played Draco Malfoy with a shotty American accent, eh, I guess our accent is becoming the hard one to do. David Oyelowo, possibly the most annoying character in the end, but played it well. Tyler Labine, this guy and James Franco actually made a believable science team. David Hewlett as Hey-That's-The-Guy-From-Stargate-Atlantis, loved him in this. That about covers them.
For a director with a pretty small resume, Rupert Wyatt did an excellent job. Every beat that was wanted and needed for this film was delivered damn near perfectly. This guy, he's going places.
Nothing else is really worth mentioning except the positive and negative aspects of this film. We'll start with the negative: some parts came off a little too ridiculously (forgivable moments), a few of the characters could get a little annoying at times (but I have a positive note about this), and Tom Felton's accent could have been better. The positive stuff: it ties everything into the Planet of the Apes franchise flawlessly and with love, the added bit of drama with John Lithgow's character was great, and it was packed full of moments that would make any nerd who has seen classic Planet of the Apes films nerdgasm. The ridiculous moments are made up for by all of the really great moments. As far as the annoying characters, I felt like most of the characters were supposed to be hated, after all, we're rooting for the Apes in this film not the humans. But Tom Felton, he really has no excuse, fuck his character and fuck his half-Draco Malfoy accent, I'm mostly teasing.
I give this film an A+, a must see. I think I've added the plus for one other film, I don't do it often. I'm just saying, this movie has something for everyone. Action, drama, romance, comedy, and apes. Even if your Mr. Negative Nancy Film Critic or even the Hipster Who Hates Good Movies I think you'll enjoy this film. Just see it and let me know what you think.
