Last week we saw the most current "Ape" movie at our neighborhood theater. I wasn't too excited about it but Dave had never seen any in the series so we went.
We both loved it.
I had no idea that James Franco stars in this movie. He's no Charlton Hesten but he's, you know, James Franco. Actually the movie is very contemporary and not at all like the old ones. Franco's father, played by the great John Lithgow, has Alzheimer's and scientist Franco is trying to find a cure.
Because of this they end up adopting a really cute, sweet and enormously smart baby ape named Caesar. By the way, this photo is of Caesar, not Franco.
Franco has managed to produce a formula that makes the apes he's experimenting on really, really smart. The first thing I thought of was that maybe James Franco has taken this drug in real life. Because, as you know, he's really, really smart. And full of energy (like the apes.)
There's the writing, acting, directing, painting, teaching at New York University, oh yes, and getting the Ph.D thingy from Yale.
But then, in the movie, the formula (SPOILER ALERT) kills every person on the planet so I guess this is not what gives Franco his energy and intelligence.
The filming is beautiful. I love the house and the neighborhood. The apes all have personalities.
If you can get over all of the human beings dying issue, it has a pretty satisfying ending. (Don't leave when the credits begin to roll because there's more to the story.)
So, if you don't have a neighborhood theater that shows second run movies for $1.25 except on Tuesdays when they're 75 cents, consider renting "Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
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