Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Wow !!!!!

Watch this flick and you wouldn’t be able to get it out of your head. This is one of the finest movies I’ve ever seen. Everything scores here – Story, direction, plot, music, cinematography, screenplay, action, visual effects and to top that all brilliant acting by Andy Serkis.

The story is really touching and firstly you wouldn’t be able to decide whose side you are on. The poor creature’s (Caesar’s played by Andy Serkis) who lost everything on the very day he was born, who had a tragic curve in his life, or the ugly side of mankind manifested by the likes of Tom Felton (Yes our very own Harry Potter’s franchise kid Draco Malfoy), Brian Cox and the entire mankind which is eyed by the apes as their enemies.

Andy Serkis, my my, he just doesn’t stop. He has always entertained us and haven’t we felt that extreme sympathy for an ape before in our hearts when he had stepped in the shoes of the legendary Kong in Peter Jackson’s flick. I still remember his superb performance in Einstein and Eddington and of course as Gollum in the Lord of the rings. This is altogether a sudden whim of emotions revisiting us from the likes of King Kong, here in the form of Caesar the intelligent ape. I must say you’d realize the sympathy in you while watching the movie and you’d wish the poor creature to come triumphant in his venture eventually as ‘Pathos’ is definitely going to overshadow your ugly side as you’d reach the climax.

The story begins with a tragic scene where a mother chimpanzee is captured from a jungle along with other apes to be experimented upon. I felt goosebumps already and I was excited that the flicks gonna be a joyride after all. The flick didn’t disappoint me a bit from that point onwards and I wasn’t surprised. I was jumping on my seat with awe at Caesar’s (Andy Serkis) understanding and intelligence. Caesar (the ape with brains) is taken as a pet by James Franco who has a father of his own suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Caesar happened to be the offspring of the mother ape that had died after she was experimented with a serum that enhanced intelligence which brought in the changes in him as well. James keeps few of the serum for his father and experiments them on his dad as he has a strong belief that the serum works just fine and that it was going to revive his father. As his father recuperates Caesar begins to grow and becomes a liability. After an incident Caesar is held captive in a cell where he weeps and craves to return to his home. It was really touching to watch him draw the window of his home on the blank wall with high hopes. James is meanwhile being duped by Brian Cox and Tom Felton that Caesar was being well taken care of. All of the wrong doings and incivilities on the part of mankind lead Caesar to rebel against them all.

There was no need to cast Freida Pinto in the ‘Rise’ as she was, literally speaking, not there in the movie. Franco was ‘alright’ in the acting department however he has been feeling ‘sleepy’ lately (and by that yes I direct my fingers towards the academy) so that’s the least that we can expect from him.

The flick has certain instants that define how the movie happens to be a prequel when the mention of Icarus being lost in a newspaper is manifested. That certainly brought a grin to my countenance as I happily connected the dots.

The movie is a must watch. I’d give it an 8 and hope it continues to score more with its awesome music, story, plot and characters. Go watch this one even if you aren’t an ape fan.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Where do I start with this one! (Remember I am not amused at all ... That’s my reluctance talking)

I must say that the hype the flick was getting as the release date neared was too much. I had high expectations when people started comparing it to Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows -2 (of course, in terms of gross earnings). I later realized that it wasn’t about how good the movies were actually but about the ‘nationality’ quotient that was attached to it. Americans and the British have been a part of this cold war for decades to prove their standards and in an endeavor to prove they are right, have left no stone unturned.

We all are big fans of the Harry Potter franchise. There was supposed to be no comparison made because if we had to choose one from any other flick Vs Harry our fingers would involuntarily point towards the wizard’s exceptional story.

Now coming back to the flick Captain America: The first Avengers I must say I entered the theatre with very high expectations (don’t do that) although every one on this planet who is a marvel fan knows the story behind the legendary Captain. We all knew that the story was bound to hover around the World War which was contemporary to our hero’s heroic deeds.

The choice of the actor was most apposite as Chris Evans stepped in the shoes of Captain America. The visual effects were brilliant not to forget the acting and the little amount of action it had. Mind boggling visual effects, as it was difficult to make out the body Chris Evans had, prior to being Captain, was actually shrunk. Skinny Steve was something, I must admit because I was in awe for a long time.

Tommy Lee Jones was in the movie while I forget it all the time because his role was so short that it seemed he was hardly there. Nothing was remarkable about the movie. I don’t seem to remember any particular stunt that was eye-catching even. Hugo Weaving seemed promising for a while but, out his light blew with a flash, definitely not what I had expected. 

Story? We all knew! So what was there to offer?

Same thing can be said about Potter but mind you, it still had superb action, superb visual effects, superb music, a superb direction and a proper screenplay to offer. Captain America: The first avenger lagged everything except maybe the visual effects part which too was short-lived.