The incredibly slow Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Don't let the title fool you, I did in fact like this movie. It just really wasn't what I expected. It's just that from the previews it looked like it was going to be an all out action-fest.

The movie stars James Franco as Will Rodman, a scientist who (like most science fiction movies) has miraculously created a super drug/virus which he believes will cure Alzheimer's disease, which his father, played by John Lithgow, just happens to have. It turns out this is not a coincidence...

Like all good scientists he begins testing the virus on chimpanzees, which results in a highly intelligent chimpanzee named Bright Eyes, due to it changing their eye color to green. Not to reveal too much, but the chimp has a son (Caesar) which inherited the intelligence traits, and Will takes him home with him.

One thing that cannot be denied is that the CGI (done by WETA FX) in the movie are amazing. The animals are all completely computer generated, and most of the time its nearly impossible to tell its not the real thing. Andy Serkis (the dude who played Golem in LOTR) did an awesome job in the film as well (as Caesar)

For those coming into this movie hoping for nothing but ape battles with human gore strewn everywhere, you will be disappointed. I was surprised at the lack of action in this movie, however I was not disappointed, but somewhat pleased. The movie shows a lot of emotion on both the side of the apes as well as the humans. However, most of this emotion on the human side is feeling sorry for Will because his dad is slowly fading away because of Alzheimer's. I think the strange about this movie is how it gets you to sympathize with the apes. With all of the cruel acts and conditions forced upon them throughout the movie, by the end you will be cheering for them to rise.

As for the action itself, when it finally does happen it is pretty cool. The special effects are awesome and the sheer intelligence that they show in their planning is quite amazing. However, like I said, there is not a ton of action in the movie, so don't go into it thinking this is going to be a real "action" movie. Overall, I thought it was a really great movie. It has a mix of drama, action, and sci-fi and I will be labeling as all three.