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.

Source Code

So I watched this movie because I had nothing better to do. I thought that the concept seemed pretty cool but I wasn't expecting a whole lot. While Jake Gyllenhaal isn't one of my favorite actors, he was actually somewhat enjoyable in this movie, probably more due to the fact that I like the plot of the movie than his acting.

So the basic premise is that he wakes up on a train, not knowing that he has actually assumed the identity of another man. The train promptly explodes and he awakes in a pod talking to a lady on a screen. Eventually it is explained to him that through parabolic calculus he is able to travel into this man's identity, a concept which he instantly understands even more than the creator. That comes as no surprise to me as he was a helicopter pilot in the military, and they all understand parabolic calculus and transference of oneself into a parallel reality. *end sarcasm*

Back to the point, he must use this technology to find the bomber of the train, who has even more sinister plans. Not wanting to say too much about the plot of the story, I actually did enjoy this movie, even though his knowledge of the whole situation being so great is a little far fetched. After all, its just a movie.

Post apocalyptic movies..

I have always been a fan of anything post apocalyptic and have played the Fallout series for countless hours. I'm not sure why such a genre tickles my fancy, but it simply does.

There have been a couple of decent post apocalyptic movies in the last couple of years, one being The Road (2009). I had initially read the book before I had ever seen the movie, and was happy to find that the kid in the book is just as annoying as the kid in the movie. He spends nearly the entire book and movie screaming at his dad about not killing people who obviously deserve it. However it is a touching story about a dad trying to take care of his kid in a wasteland of a world filled with flesh hungry crazies. The visuals are bleak and really make you believe that you are in a barren wasteland. If this is your kind of genre, then I'd recommend watching it at least once.

The second which I wish to mention is The Book of Eli (2010). One thing I can say about this movie is that if you aren't a fan of Christianity, then this movie might not be your cup of tea. Probably the only problem I have with this movie is that due to the religious aspect, he seems to have magical powers, but you're never really sure. Possibly its just the confidence that he exudes because of it. Other than this, the movie is action packed and has a good cast. Denzel, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis.. ect. By the end of the movie there are tons of dead bodies. The atmosphere is much like that of The Road, very bleak and fitting of a world destroyed. I highly recommend it.

X-Men: First Ass

As a big fan of the three X-Men movies and somewhat a fan of Wolverine Origins, this movie made me cringe. Many people who are fans of the original comics and/or the tv cartoon will find glaring inaccuracies. Of course this isn't always a terrible thing. It wouldn't make any damn sense if an alien popped out of nowhere and threw a rock at professor x. I admit that at times changing the plot for the sake of making a better movie can be a good thing.

I think the real problem I had with it was how hokey everything was. In the original movies everything wasn't ridiculously dumbed down like in this one. Through X3 there was perhaps a small introduction to a character and their powers were later revealed in a not so showoffy way. Half this movie was people showing off what they could do and acting cool. I guess it can be argued that it's because they were younger and that's how younger people act, but it gets old after a while of it.

With that being said, some of the movie is pretty cool. The visual effects are really good. If you are a fan of X-Men then the fact that they act the entire time like you've never heard of X-Men shouldn't bother you too much. Just being able to see your favorite character doing what they do should make it worth it to watch it at least once. While on the subject of favorite characters, Professor X is one of mine. James McAvoy is a huge doucher in almost everything he's in so I was pretty disappointed that he had the role. He's obviously Scottish as well. Michael Fassbender is ok as Magneto except for his accent and Kevin Bacon seemed like a strange choice.

If you are a fan of X-Men and believe like me that having more movies is better than not having any more, then give it a shot and see if the discrepancies and childishness outweigh the thrills.