Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a thoroughly entertaining movie. The emotions portrayed by the ape (Caesar) are just remarkable. The performance capture technology used in this movie is a huge step up for Hollywood, and I think, a step in the right direction.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an interesting story that works. The performances were really good, especially John Lithgow's as the alzheimer's stricken father of Will Rodman (James Franco). The other performance that stood out was Andy Serkis' as Caesar, leader of the ape rebellion. Certain scenes really showed how good his performance was, even through the mask of the ape.

The movie moves quite well at the beginning and final act, dragging a bit in the middle. The percussive music composed by Patrick Doyle was great, . The cinematography was very well done. It made me feel like I was in the trees with Caesar.

What Rise of the Planet of the Apes comes down to are the emotional attachments it makes. I felt connected to Caesar, in both the sad moments and the exciting ones.

It's an extremely sweet, entertaining, and action packed movie.

And by the way, since all the apes are CGI, no actual apes were harmed in the making of this movie.

Actors: James Franco (Will Rodman), John Lithgow (Charles Rodman), Freida Pinto (Caroline Aranha), Andy Serkis (Caesar)
Recap: A-

Photo Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Captain America: The First Avenger

To put it kindly, this hasn't been a great year for superhero films (Thor, Green Lantern, The Green Hornet). And while there have been one or two good ones (X-Men: First Class), so far they've left me wanting a satisfying, fun, and original superhero movie. Captain America was all of those things.

The look of it alone was great, very WWII era. I had just finished the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, which I highly recommend. I gained some knowledge of WWII from Band of Brothers so I was interested to see how director Joe Johnston would portray the period. Keeping it accurate and within a PG-13 rating is tough, but I thought he did a good job of it.

Captain America is the story of Steven Rogers, a skinny kid from NY who gets picked on but never runs away from a fight (sounds a bit like a certain friendly neighborhood web-spinner), turned super-soldier from a serum developed by Dr. Abraham Erskine (played by the always solid Stanley Tucci). Rogers has tried in the past to enlist in the army, multiple times, but was always rejected because of his puny physique. He's picked for this test because of his heart and his personality, not his physical attributes, or lack of them. The serum enhances everything in his cells, which means that his personality is enhanced too. Bad becomes evil, good becomes great. The story is pretty interesting, deeper than most superhero movies. But what's really good in Captain America is the cast.

Chris Evans is perfect as the small kid in a super improved body. He's got such a nice guy persona about him. Hugo Weaving is great as Johann Schmidt/Red Skull, Nazi officer turned faceless head of HYDRA. Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly) said it best, he's a cross between Hellboy and Michael Jackson. HYDRA plans to do exactly what Hitler is trying to do, just without Hitler. The action sequences between the Americans and HYDRA were fun to watch, and believable. Tommy Lee Jones, as always, was fun to watch as the gruff, gritty colonel. Dominic Cooper played Howard Stark, father of Tony Stark/Ironman. You can see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. But, Hayley Atwell was the standout in this movie. I haven't seen her in anything but this and she was terrific. The ending was a good twist, but not a great one, a bit predictable. Speaking of the ending, stay after the credits. You won't be disappointed.

A highly entertaining historically-based superhero movie.

Actors: Chris Evans (Captain America/Steve Rogers), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Tommy Lee Jones (Colonel Chester Phillips), Hugo Weaving (Johann Schmidt/Red Skull)
Recap: A-

Photo Courtesy of Marvel Entertainment.