'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Review . . . . Kind of

Now I had all intentions of doing a "normal" review for 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' but life kind of got in the way and I ended up not writing one. What I did write though was an assignment for my writing class about the different aspects of the film.  I have also included a brief summary at the end giving my over all thoughts about the film as well.

Universal Themes - For this film it showed how most people look down upon animals regardless of intelligence and how they don’t know how to open their minds and accept anything different than what they think is “normal.” Which then fits into the much larger topic of bigotry and not being able to accept anything different and treat them as equals. The movie digs a little into this topic and very much into the repercussions of acting this way.

Personal Impact - As a huge animal lover this movie hooked me very easily and made me hate the humans in this film. Now sure it didn’t change anything about what I already thought, but it put a huge reinforcement into how I feel. I just really think it’s wrong what people do to animals and I wish I had some control over how they were treated. (Both parties, animals and loser people who treat them badly.)

Character / Plot Arc -  This movie did a great job of showing the relationship between man and ape. An even better job was done in showing the final break of they’re relationship and well, the rise of the planet of the apes. Now some of the human relationships between each other weren’t really developed very well and almost just shoved to the side, but I give major kudos to the film for doing that instead of putting the actors as the main characters. The movie is about apes, so the main character should be an ape, Michael Bay could learn a thing or two from this film.

Art Direction - Everything from sets to costumes was done very well, though it was set in current times so there really wasn’t much challenge there, although some films can’t even get that right, so good job, I guess. As for the effects, they were on the top side of “ehh” or maybe the low side of good, but nothing spectacular. There was really just one thing were they messed up too, the faces of the apes. It was super cool that they decided to CGI the faces because it did add a lot to the film but at the same time, it always looked fake. Now this wasn’t a HUGE problem but there were a few times were I was pulled out of the film and though to myself, “Wow, that looks fake.” Those scenes were very reminiscent of ‘Matrix Reloaded’ and ‘Spider-Man’.

Performances -  The performances were all solid across the board. You had a movie full of great actors, which after ‘Cowboys & Aliens’, I know for a fact means absolutely nothing but still it’s James Franco backed up by Freida Pinto and Tom Felton. Everyone was just very believable in there roles and had you rooting either for or against them. None of them made me wish they had cast someone else thanks to over or under acting, which is also a huge plus.

Final Thoughts - This was an amazing film and in my opinion the best film of 2011. I just don't see how anything will be able to "rise" above this film. Great acting, great story, great cinematography, this film has it all and I definitely recommend checking it out.

'Cowboys & Aliens' Review

'Cowboys & Aliens' a movie about a very one sided battle between, well, cowboys and aliens. The movie was directed by 'Iron Man 2' director Jon Favreau. An excellent cast was put together for this film as well with Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde as our main characters.

What I haven't gotten over about this film is the acting, it was just so bad. The main culprit here, Harrison Ford. It was as if he just showed up to get his paycheck. He never looked as if he was taking the movie very serious and every scene he was in, was just him being there, he never put any effort into the role and it showed. Wilde also didn't do as good as I had hoped but was the opposite of Ford. Instead of not caring about the film, she seemed to care a bit too much, to the point that it made her acting very hammy. Some scenes with her, serious scenes I might add, were turned into comedy just because you can't take someone acting like she was serious. As for Craig, he did a great job. He was very believable as the amnesic cowboy, even down to the way he moved and his expressions, it's just a shame that the rest of the cast didn't follow his lead here.

The effects here were great. Something about the aliens reminded me a lot of ‘War of the Worlds’ but that’s not really a bad thing, they just had a very cinematic look to them if you will. Also the gun fights in the movie were awesome, typical cowboy stuff mostly but the confrontations with the aliens really took it a level up. The problem though came in with the lack of these great battles, the movie relied too much on the acting and story to carry it which resulted in a very slow and forgettable movie.

Overall the film is a dud, which truly is a shame. With the plethora of talent in the movie, it could’ve been something great. I would say it’s still worth a watch if you’re a fan of the comic or if you really like Daniel Craig but just wait for it to come out in Redbox or something and pick it up as a rental.

'Captain America: The First Avenger' Review

Here we are again with another comic book movie this year, this time it's 'Captain America: The First Avenger'. The movie stars Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, and Tommy Lee Jones and was directed by Joe Johnston. The film tells the story of Steve Rogers, an incredibly tiny man from Brooklyn who just wants to go over seas and fight for his country during WWII. He is then given that chance when he is transformed into Captain America. (Cue music.)

Seeing as to how this is a war movie, we'll start with the action here. Although not as much action as one would have thought, seeing as how this movie is taking place and primarily about WWII, when it does happen, it's pretty damn awesome. Some of the effects needed a little work, mostly the green screens, but besides that, the movie delivers some very thrilling and entertaining action scenes. The movies pacing here was all wrong as well. They cut the film in half, the first part is all introduction and the second is all fighting, which is the way most origin stories go, but I prefer a better flow in movies. The only thing that this does do is that when you finally do see Rogers don the Captain suit, it's pretty exciting.

Since they did choose to split this movie and try to make it more than just an action packed WWII ride, then we'll move onto the acting. Evans did a great job of making you believe he really was just some wimpy guy from Brooklyn with no fear and with out his performance the film wouldn't be anywhere close to what it is. He's not the only one though, Jones did a fantastic job and stuck out as one of my favorite parts of the movie. I guess I just have a soft spot for the battle hardened war veteran with an interesting sense of humor. Now onto some of the not so good, Weaving did a decent enough job not to ruin the film but he was nothing spectacular and kind of hammed up his role a little bit. He just wasn't very entertaining, although he was very believable as a ruthless villain that will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. I just think he could've done much better. As for the rest of the cast, they all did a fine job, no complaints here.

This movie is yet another great movie in Marvel's ever growing library and it did an excellent job of telling the origin of the beloved Captain America. This movie really is for everyone, it doesn't have that "superhero-ness" that a lot of films seem to have lately. Much like 'Batman Begins', it's an origin story that die hard fans can enjoy alongside new comers, while still not shutting out the average cinematic adventurer. I highly recommend going to see this movie ASAP.

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2' Review

The final movie in the Harry Potter franchise, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2', has been released and the world now knows the "full" story of what happened to the boy that lived. The movie picks up exactly where the Deathly Hallows Part 1 left off, with Harry and friends attempting to find and destroy the rest of Voldemort's Horcruxes. The film is again directed by David Yates and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson.

This movie is full of action, once it starts, it never stops going. In fact the entire film is climax, which is a good and bad thing. It's good because this movie is everything that Part 1 wasn't, from the action to actually moving the story forward. In the same sense though it's bad because they leave out all of the moments of Harry and friends, just living if you will.  I really felt like I didn't get the full Harry Potter experience watching this movie because of the lack of just seeing the characters doing things besides fighting. Now I get that this was a two part film and if they were watched together they would be fantastic, but to watch either by itself, doesn't quite work.

Now seeing as how this film was based around the action here, I'll touch on that next. It was phenomenal. The movie looked great from living statues too the giant snakes. The battles did however lose a little of there impact though every time someone died, it was as if the movie didn't want to deal with the death of any characters and it shied away from it, making it seem almost as if they didn't matter.

I would just like to mention that I didn't read many of the books, only the first two and until now that hasn't been a problem. This was the first time in the series where I really felt like I was missing something that was kind of important in the book and that the movie was just choosing to brush to the side. Not that this really hurts the movie or anything but it just makes the experience feel a bit more incomplete.

Overall though, this was a great movie and a must see for movie goers of all ages. Sure the film had a few minor problems  but in the end they weren't anything that really hurt film as a whole and definitely should not detour you from seeing one of 2011's best films.

'The Amazing Spider-Man' Trailer

'The Dark Knight Rises' Trailer

More The Dark Knight Rises Videos

What do you even say after something that awesome?!....Trick question, you don't say anything, instead you just watch it again.

Weekend Box Office Estimates - July 15- 17 2011

1. Deathly Hallows - Part 2 $168,550,000
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon $21,250,000
3. Horrible Bosses $17,630,000
4. Zookeeper $12,300,000
5. Cars 2 $$8,344,000
6. Winnie the Pooh $8,000,000
7. Bad Teacher $5,200,000
8. Larry Crowne $2,573,000
9. Super 8 $1,925,000
10. Midnight in Paris $1,891,000

Harry Potter managed to break a lot of records this weekend, most notably the one previously held by "The Dark Knight" for the biggest three day weekend opening of all time.