Planet of the Apes

Planet of the Apes (2001)

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars


Decent, though still made in an older style film more along the lines of what I would expect from the original series than from a re-launch. The space ship might be considered more high tech, but considering that it plays a minimal role in the film overall, not overly impressive.

It is the year 2029: Astronaut Leo Davidson boards a pod cruiser on a Space Station for a "routine" reconnaissance mission. But an abrupt detour through a space time wormhole lands him on a strange planet where talking apes rule over the human race. With the help of a sympathetic chimpanzee activist named Ari and a small band of human rebels, Leo leads the effort to evade the advancing Gorilla Army led by General Thade and his most trusted warrior Attar. Now the race is on to reach a sacred temple within the planet's Forbidden Zone to discover the shocking secrets of mankind's past - and the key to its future.

- source: listal

I'm sure we'll end up watching the earlier films at some point given the current trend. Definitely can tell the difference going from humans dressed as apes to real apes and CGI. Still, they're amusing films if nothing else.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


Apes aren't my first choice in animals, though they can be rather fascinating at times. This film definitely illustrates the similarities between apes and humans, especially in the young primate, Caesar. Having heard all about how the apes take over the planet, this seemed more like a small jail break/revolt rather than a hostile take-over. Hard to imagine things going that far downhill after the relatively peaceful and accepting parting between Caesar his human companions at the end of the film.