Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

The first good decision made for this film however was to dispense with the masks (aka Helena Bonham Carter as an ape) and use CGI. To be honest, until I heard an interview with the director after seeing the film, I had no idea whether it was all CGI or whether they had used some real apes. It's all CGI, but it's remarkable. Andy Serkis plays Cesar the protagonist ape, using state of the art motion capture by Weta, and the expression and emotion conveyed is quite brilliant.

Also good is the human acting, with James Franco playing the scientist struggling with morals, and John Lithgow as his Alzheimer suffering father. 

And then, amazingly, there is a good story. It's a story which offers believable reasons for actions, moral questions and a surprising and yet inevitable climax. The characters try to do the right thing, both the humans and the apes, but every step leads to complications. 

It's a completely believable story of the origin of The Planet Of The Apes, with a few knowing nods to the original: the TV news showing the astronauts setting off for Mars, the repetition of the "damned dirty ape" line. Not too much in your face, and raised a chuckle from those who knew the original.

I enjoyed it immensely, and yes I'm quite surprised. It's intelligent Science Fiction, taking one key idea and examining its consequences, then taking it a step further. All rather good. And the apes are amazing. A sequel please (you don't get me asking for that very often.)