Lee Daniels’ The Butler

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In 2009, an elderly Cecil Gaines recounts his life story, while waiting at the White House to meet the newly inaugurated president.

In 1926, at the age of seven, Gaines is raised on a cotton plantation in Macon, Georgia, by his sharecropping parents. One day, the farm’s owner, Thomas Westfall, rapes Cecil’s mother, Hattie Pearl. Cecil’s father confronts Westfall, and is shot dead. Cecil is taken in by Annabeth Westfall, the estate’s caretaker and owner’s grandmother, who trains Cecil as a house servant.

In 1937, at age eighteen, he leaves the plantation and his mother, who has been mute since the incident and presumably dies of old age by the time the plantation shuts down. One night, Cecil breaks into a hotel pastry shop and is, unexpectedly, hired. He learns advanced skills from the master servant, Maynard, who, after several years, recommends Cecil for a position in a Washington D.C. hotel. While working at the D.C. hotel, Cecil meets and marries Gloria, and the couple have two sons: Louis and Charlie. In 1957, Cecil is hired by the White House during Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration. White House maître d’ Freddie Fallows shows Cecil around, introducing him to head butler Carter Wilson and co-worker James Holloway. At the White House, Cecil witnesses Eisenhower’s reluctance to use troops to enforce school desegregation in the South, then his resolve to uphold the law by racially integrating Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas.

The Gaines family celebrates Cecil’s new occupation with their neighbors, Howard and Gina. Louis, the elder son, becomes a first generation university student at Fisk University in Tennessee, although Cecil feels that the South is too volatile; he wanted Louis to enroll at Howard University instead. Louis joins a student program led by Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) activist James Lawson, which leads to a nonviolent sit-in at a segregated diner, where he is arrested. Furious, Cecil confronts Louis for disobeying him. Gloria, who feels that Cecil puts his job ahead of her, descends into alcoholism and an affair with the Gaines’s neighbor, Howard.

In 1961, after John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, Louis and a dozen others are attacked by members of the Ku Klux Klan as well as people wearing Nazi uniforms. while traveling on a bus in Alabama. Louis is shown participating in the 1963 Birmingham Children’s Crusade, where dogs and water cannons were used to stop the marchers, one of the movement’s actions which inspired Kennedy to deliver a national address proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Several months after the speech, Kennedy is assassinated. His successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, enacts the transformative legislation into law. As a goodwill gesture, Jackie Kennedy gives Cecil one of the former president’s neckties before she leaves the White House.

Louis is later shown participating in the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement, which inspired Johnson to demand that Congress enact the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Johnson also gives Cecil a tie bar.

In the late 1960s, after civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, Louis visits and tells his family that he has joined the Black Panthers. Outraged, Cecil orders Louis and his girlfriend, Carol, to leave his house. Louis is soon arrested, and Carter bails him out. Cecil becomes aware of President Richard Nixon’s plans to suppress the movement.

The Gaines’ other son, Charlie, confides to Louis that he plans to join the Army in the war in Vietnam. Louis announces that he won’t attend Charlie’s funeral if he is killed there because while Louis sees Americans as multiple races, Charlie sees the country as one race. A few months later, Charlie is killed and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Louis does not attend. However, when the Black Panthers resort to violence in response to racial confrontations, Louis leaves the organization and returns to college, earning his master’s degree in political science and eventually running for a seat in Congress.

Meanwhile, Cecil confronts his supervisor at the White House over the unequal pay and career advancement provided to the black White House staff. With President Ronald Reagan’s support, he prevails, and his professional reputation grows to the point that he and his wife are invited by President and Nancy Reagan to be guests at a state dinner. Yet at the dinner and afterwards, Cecil becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the class divisions in the White House. Finally, after witnessing Reagan’s refusal to support economic sanctions against South Africa, he resigns. Afterwards, Cecil and Gloria visit the Georgia plantation where he was raised, which by then had long been abandoned.

Gloria, wanting Cecil to mend his relationship with Louis, reveals to him that Louis has told her that he loves and respects them both. Realizing his son’s actions are heroic, Cecil joins Louis at a Free South Africa Movement protest against South African apartheid, and they are arrested and jailed together.

In 2008, Gloria dies shortly before Barack Obama is elected as the nation’s first African-American president, a milestone which leaves Cecil and Louis in awe. Two months, two weeks and one day later, Cecil prepares to meet the newly inaugurated President at the White House, wearing the articles he had received from presidents Kennedy and Johnson. A man approaches Cecil and tells him the president is ready and shows him the way to the Oval office. Cecil tells the man that he knows the way and as he walks down the hallway the voices of presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson are heard which later fade away as president Barack Obama’s famous “Yes we can” quote can be heard as Cecil walks through the doors of the Oval office.

REVIEW:

When Lee Daniels’ The Butler was released a couple of years ago, there was much talk about how it would be received, partially because this was another historical race-based film that seemed to be tailor-made for a run at the Oscar. All that talk subsided, though, when people actually watched the film and realized that it wasn’t as racially motivated as they were led to believe. If race isn’t the driving force of this picture, then let’s find out what is, shall we?

What is this about?

Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker delivers a powerful performance as Cecil Gaines, who served as the White House butler under eight presidents. His three decades of service unfold against a backdrop of unparalleled change in American history.

What did I like?

Longevity. The timeline of this film is from the late 20s to 2009 (or somewhere around that time). In that time span, our lead character became a butler at the White House in the early 50s, during Eisenhower’s administration, and was steadily employed there until the end of the Reagan era, and still kept spy until his death is 2010. Sakes alive! We can only wish for that type of longevity, right?

History. As I said, this isn’t a race film, but you can’t go through 80 something years without hitting the racial strife and turmoil in this country’s history, especially when the main character is a black man. As such, we get to see the Civil Rights movement, rise of the Black Panther party, Voting Rights Movement, etc. These have little to no effect on Forest Whitaker’s character directly, save for the Civil Rights movement, but his son is involved in them all, which causes an interesting subplot of family drama.

Silence speaks words. It took me awhile to recognize who Whitaker’s mom was in the first scenes, but as it turns out, she is that great actress, Mariah Carey! Ok, I’m being a little facetious, but Carey does give a really good performance…and she doesn’t say a word. The plantation owner takes and rapes her, and the other couple of scenes she’s in are silence. Her silence, though, speaks volumes as to how she was affected. Mariah is good at these small, but powerfully dramatic roles. Maybe she can graduate to bigger ones, soon.

What didn’t I like?

Spitting image. I’m really not sure what to think of the casting of the presidents in this film. With the exception of Robin Williams and John Cusack, they all resemble their counterpart (with the aid of makeup), but I still wonder if someone just pulled names out of a hat and said they should be this person. How else do you explain Alan Rickman as Ronald Regan or Liev Shrieber as Lyndon B. Johnson? I will give credit to John Cusack and James Marsden, they were pretty good at bringing their characters to life, despite not really resembling them.

Comment on Hollywood? Halfway through the picture, I noticed that a good chunk of black Hollywood was in this film. Some of the bigger names are missing (Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Queen Latifah,  Angela Bassett, etc.), but I have a feeling they were at least contacted. Here’s the thing, what does it say about Hollywood when everytime there is a film that casts a chunk of black actors, it is the same handful? Case in point…there is a scene in which Oprah and Terrence Howard are talking about hooking up. Funny thing is that they were husband and wife a few years back in The Princess and the Frog. A good chunk of the cast starred in Red Tails and Oprah and Forrest Whitaker seem to be joined at the hip. Just some food for thought.

Underrated support. Most people know Lenny Kravitz as musician, but he’s been making a name for himself on the big screen, most notably in the Hunger Games franchise. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that he is a level-headed fellow butler who seems to have his pulse on the world outside. A stark contrast to the fast-talking, smooth ladies man that is Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s character. What strikes me as odd, though, is that neither of these guys gets any recognition for their fine performances. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know they were in here until they appeared on the screen, yet I knew Vanessa Redgrave had a tiny part at the beginning. Definitely underrated performances, if you ask me, and they deserve more respect for what they accomplished.

So, Lee Daniels’ The Butler…what did I think of it? Well, first of all, it is a very fine piece of modern cinema. It manages to keep the audience captivated from start to finish, which is a hard task, especially with this subject matter and over a vast amount of years. That being said, I feel this film may have spent a little too much time with the oldest son, as opposed to giving the youngest a little time to shine and/or focusing on the titular character. That said, I do recommend this. However, for me, it is a bit too heavy to watch more than one time. If I feel the need to check it out again, I’ll just find some clips.

5 out of 5 stars

Jack Reacher

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a man drives a van into a parking garage across the Allegheny River from PNC Park and, after dropping a quarter into the meter, readies a sniper rifle. He takes aim and appears to randomly kill five people on the river’s North Shore Trail from long range before fleeing in the van.

The police soon arrive at the scene of the murder, headed by Detective Emerson (David Oyelowo), and they discover a shell casing as well as the coin used to pay for parking. A fingerprint taken from the coin points to James Barr, a former U.S. Army sniper. When the police raid his house, they find the van, equipment for making bullets, the rifle in question, and Barr fast asleep in his bed.

During an interrogation by Emerson and the District Attorney, Alex Rodin (Richard Jenkins), Barr is offered a choice between life in prison in exchange for a full confession or guaranteed death row, as Rodin has never failed to convict. Thinking Barr is going to confess when he takes the notepad, they are bewildered when he instead writes “Get Jack Reacher”. Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) is a drifter and former U.S. Army Military Police Corps officer. Reacher later arrives in Pittsburgh after seeing a news report about Barr and the shooting. Emerson and Rodin deny Reacher’s request to view the evidence but agree to let him see the suspect. Barr, as it turns out, was somehow brutally attacked by fellow inmates while in police transport and is now in a coma. Reacher meets Barr’s defense attorney, counselor Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), the District Attorney’s daughter, who’s been saddled with the apparently hopeless task of saving Barr from the death penalty.

Helen says she can arrange for Reacher to see the evidence if he will become her lead investigator. Reacher retorts that he is not interested in clearing Barr. He confidentially reveals that Barr had gone on a killing spree during his tour in Iraq but was not prosecuted because the victims were under investigation for major crimes — and the U.S. Army wants them forgotten. Reacher, then vowed that if Barr tried anything like this again, he would take him down.

Reacher agrees to investigate if Helen visits the victims’ families to learn about the people murdered that day. Reacher goes to the crime scene and finds inconsistencies with this location, and thinking a trained shooter would have committed the killings from the cover of the van on the nearby Fort Duquesne Bridge. After Helen reports her findings about the victims to Reacher, he suggests that the owner of a local construction company was the intended victim, with the killing of other random victims intended to cover up that fact.

After a seemingly spurious bar fight, Reacher realizes that someone is attempting to strong-arm him into dropping his investigation. Reacher is later framed for the murder of the young woman who was paid to instigate the barroom brawl, but this only motivates him further. Reacher eventually follows a lead at a shooting range in the neighboring state of Ohio, owned by former U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Cash, who will talk only if Reacher is able to demonstrate his U.S. Army sniping skills.

The real perpetrators are members of a Russian gang masquerading as legitimate businessmen. The gang’s elderly leader spent much of his life in a Soviet Gulag and is known only as the Zec (prisoner). The gang kidnaps Helen with the aid of Detective Emerson and holds her hostage at a quarry. Reacher outwits the mob guards, killing them with Cash’s help, before confronting the Zec about the conspiracy.

Reacher and Cash flee the scene with confidence that Helen will clear Jack Reacher’s name. When Barr awakens from his coma, he tells Helen that he has no recent memory but believes that he must be guilty of the shooting. Barr’s mental reconstruction of how he would have committed the shootings confirms that Reacher’s theory was correct from the beginning. Still unaware of all these developments, Barr is willing to confess and accept his punishment, fearing that Reacher will mete out justice if the law does not.

REVIEW:

Apparently, this is Tom Cruise weekend for me, which is odd because I’m not really a fan of the guy, but sometimes that’s just how things play out, I suppose. This particular Cruise film, Jack Reacher, was the subject of some debate when it was released, particularly regarding the casting, which I will touch on shortly, but could that one thing be enough to make or break this action thriller based on a popular series of books?

What is this about?

When ex-military cop Jack Reacher investigates an elite sniper charged with killing five people, he teams up with a beautiful defense lawyer — and they soon find themselves drawn into a dangerous cat-and-mouse game in this exciting thriller.

What did I like?

Throwback. Think back to 70s crime thriller films like Bullitt. If you’re one of those people who misses those kind of pictures, then this is right up your alley, as it seems to have a similar structure in pace and tone to those films. Even the car chase seemed to be something out of those gritty films instead of today’s slicked up CG crap.

Subdued. If you go into this looking for big explosions and whatnot, you will be gravely disappointed. Yes, there are some action scenes, but they aren’t the focal point. In fact, they serve as more of an icing on the cake. The main course, though, is how Cruise, as Jack Reacher, goes about solving this case and helping Rosamund Pike’s character keep the alleged killer from receiving the death penalty.

Much needed. Enter Robert Duvall as a grisly old Marine turned shooting range owner. After their initial meeting, Reacher calls him in to help in the climax. Duvall brings in some much needed comic relief to a film that was really starting to drag. He wasn’t laugh out loud funny, but the couple of one-liners he spouts, as well as his actions, are enough to liven things up and get the audience through the last 10 minutes or so.

What didn’t I like?

Pike’s peaks. Look, I’m all about looking at cleavage as much as the next guy, but I think they went a bit overboard with Rosamund Pike. In nearly every scene she’s in, they make sure that the audience is focused on her chest. A couple of times that is fine, but every…single…time?!? That was a bit much. Did I mention that she was pregnant when filming this? So, the fact that she is a bit more voluptuous than normal, probably had something to do with that. I just can’t get over how tasteless it was that they did that.

Casting. I haven’t read this book, but from what I hear, Cruise is far from what Reacher actually looks like. His height and build are far from they way the character is described. Someone with a build similar to Dwayne Johnson is more of what Jack Reacher actually looks like. Not saying Johnson should have been cast, but you have to wonder why they picked Cruise.

Stick to filmmaking. The villain of this film is played by German filmmaker Werner Herzog. If that name doesn’t sound familiar, his voice is sure to ring bells. When he first appears, he is scary as hell, but later on when he reappears, he is almost a bad Bond villain. For me, the guy just doesn’t’ work as a villain, especially given the tone of the film. He just seems to be a bit to comical for the serious, reality grounded flick.

In the end, when all the dust clears, many people went crazy for Jack Reacher. However, I wasn’t one of them. Yes, this is a well-crafted film, but I couldn’t embrace it as much as I felt like it needed to be. Despite my personal opinion, would I recommend it? Believe it or not, yes I would. I think a wide variety of people would enjoy this very much, I just wasn’t one of those that was fawning all over it. That being said, check it out sometime!

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Red Tails

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In 1944, after enduring racism throughout their recruitment and training in the Tuskegee training program, the 332d Fighter Group of young African American USAAF fighter pilots are finally sent into combat in Italy, although flying worn-out Curtiss P-40 Warhawk aircraft. Chafing at their ground attack missions against trains and enemy ground transport, the Tuskegee Airmen recognize that they may never fight the Luftwaffe in fighter-to-fighter combat. The tight-knit group of Joe “Lightning” Little (David Oyelowo), Martin “Easy” Julian (Nate Parker), Ray “Ray Gun” or “Junior” Gannon (Tristan Wilds), and Samuel “Joker” George (Elijah Kelley) under the guidance of Major Emanuel Stance (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Col. A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard), face a white military bureaucracy still resistant to accepting black flyers as equals.

Strife develops between roommates and best friends, Easy and Lightning, each of whom are battling their own inner demons; Lightning is a hotheaded and reckless pilot who takes too many risks, while Easy is an alcoholic prone to self doubt. After returning to base from a mission, Lightning spies a pretty Italian girl named Sofia (Daniela Ruah), becomes instantly infatuated with her, and starts a relationship.

Meanwhile, Stance is able to secure a chance to “light up the board” when the Tuskegee Airmen are chosen to support the Allied landings at Anzio, Italy known as Operation Shingle. There, they battle Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters led by a German ace pilot they nickname, “Pretty Boy” (Lars van Riesen), scoring their first aerial victories over the enemy, as well as destroying a German airfield. However, Ray Gun is injured during the battle and suffers impaired vision in one of his eyes. Ray Gun begs Easy to keep him on the flight roster who ultimately relents and allows him to keep flying.

Bullard is then approached by the USAAF Bomber Command, who are impressed with the Tuskegee Airmen’s performance and ask him to use his fighters as Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber escorts due to unacceptably high casualties among bomber crews. Bullard accepts on the condition that his unit be supplied with the new North American P-51 Mustang. The tails of the aircraft are painted bright red and become the unofficial name of the outfit. Bullard noted that the flaw of previous escort fighters is that they would recklessly pursue German fighters at the cost of protecting the bombers, so he orders his pilots to stay with the bombers at all costs. Their first escort mission is a success, with the 332nd downing multiple Luftwaffe aircraft without the loss of a single bomber. However, Ray Gun is shot down and captured while Deke crash lands and nearly dies.

As a result of his injuries, Deke is discharged, and Ray Gun is assumed to be dead. Easy realizes it was his fault Ray Gun was allowed to fly, blames himself and spirals deeper into alcoholism. Lightning, worried about his friend, makes a deal with Easy; he will follow orders and fly less recklessly as long as Easy remains sober. Meanwhile, attitudes against the Tuskegee Airmen begin to change as they earn the bomber crews’ respect, even being allowed into the “whites only” officer’s club. Ray Gun is sent to a POW camp, where he is recruited by a group of POWs who are planning to escape. The escape attempt is successful, but some of the POWs are spotted by a guard so Ray Gun draws the Germans’ attention while the other POWs escape. One of the POWs manages to reach the 332nd’s base and informs them about Ray Gun’s sacrifice, assuming him to be dead. Later, Lightning finally proposes to Sofia and she accepts.

The Tuskegee Airmen are then tasked with escorting the first American bombers to attack Berlin. However, despite their P-51s having more than enough fuel for the trip, the 332nd is only asked to escort the bombers on the first leg of their journey due to propaganda reasons. But the fighter squadron meant to relieve the 332nd never arrives, and Easy makes the decision to stay with bombers all the way. They are then attacked by Pretty Boy, now leading a flight of revolutionary Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighters. Despite being outclassed by the jet fighters’ superior speed and 30 mm cannon, the Tuskegee Airmen are able to shoot down some of the Me 262s. Pretty Boy manages to get on Easy’s tail and is about to shoot him down, but at the last moment, Lightning attacks and kills Pretty Boy in a head-on attack. Victorious, but mortally wounded, he eventually crashes. Easy is then forced to inform Sofia about Lightning’s death and consequently overcomes his alcoholism for good. At Lightning’s funeral, Ray Gun miraculously returns, having survived his escape from German captivity.

Ultimately, the Tuskegee Airmen are awarded the Presidential Unit Citation in honor of their achievements.

REVIEW:

Growing up as an Air Force brat, one can’t help but become enamored with airplanes…or become more and more bitter with the sound of them everytime you go near the base. Even though I have a fear of heights and flying, I still was one of those that loved planes. Add to that my love for WWII, and Red Tails should be right up my alley, right?

What did I like?

It was made. There have been film about the Tuskegee Airmen made before, but most have been documentaries or those ultra-serious dramas. It was good to get an action flick on these fine pilots, and that it was made by a prominent filmmaker, George Lucas. The fact that he went out of his way and stuck his neck out to make a film about African-American pilots earns some respect he’s lost with his constant tinkering of the holy trilogy back.

No Spike. Thank goodness this was not made by Spike Lee! Had he directed this, I’m sure this would have been another “hate whitey’ film. Instead, this director mostly downplayed and ignored the racism that existed. Sure, he touched on it here and there. It would be pointless to make this film without doing so, but that stuff is not the focal point of this film, the flying is what matters. If you want that racial stuff, go watch one of those documentaries.

Flying high. The flying scenes are what most people are watching this for, and boy, are they worth it! If there is one thing George Lucas knows how to do, it is film some great aeronautical aerobatics, as we’ve seen in the holy trilogy, most notably Star Wars (which it has been said he used as a basis for these scenes). Again, I’m a little biased as I love seeing these type of planes in dogfights, one of the reasons I loved Pearl Harbor as well. The only thing missing was a plane painted with a shark face.

Now that we’ve found love. Along with all the action, there is a little  love story. It really hits its peak at the film’s end. On top of that, we get a real sense of camaraderie between the pilots when one of them nearly dies and another crashes and is captured.

They are out there. Last week, I read an article about an upcoming superhero movie about Black Panther. The problem was that they had no idea who would play him. The usual suspects are too old. Well, here are a bunch of nominees, one of them even has that build and natural British/African accent.

What didn’t I like?

Bad banter. *SIGH* I have never heard so many clichéd, stereotypical lines in my life. The most obvious place was in the final flying scene. These lines were so bad, there were almost offensive.

Terrence and Cuba. Terrence Howard is one of my favorite actors. I’m still fuming over how they replaces him with the far inferior Don Cheadle for Iron Man 2. He does a decent job here, but he seems to be trying too hard and it comes off as nearly robotic. Cuba Gooding, Jr., on the other hand could really use his performance here to get back onto the A list, or at least he could if there were more there. As it is, he has a few good scenes, but nothing to write home about. Come to think about it, isn’t it weird that some of the more prominent African-American actors such as Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson, aren’t in this?

Feeling. I was trying to feel something for these characters, but it just wasn’t happening. As a matter of fact, with the exception of the rebellious pilot (you know there has to be one), they don’t really give you anything to go on for most of these guys, except that one of them has a bit of a drinking problem. This is something that they could have done a better job with, in my opinion. I’m not saying we need to know the backstory of each and every pilot, but something, anything, more would have nice.

Unequal. For all the praise that can be heaved onto the flying scenes, the same cannot be said for this story. I realize that Lucas wasn’t really trying to focus on something dramatic, which is fine with me, but there could have been something for the audience to sink our teeth into. As it is, we get these teases of a story here and there, but nothing is really flashed out.

Red Tails is a fun war flick. Chances are that after you watch this, you’ll go look up the Tuskegee Airmen, or maybe even watch one of those other films about them, which is one of the major reasons this was made, to bring awareness to these forgotten pilots. I loved this film, but it does have a few flaws that just cannot be overlooked. Still, I highly recommend you check it out!

4 out of 5 stars

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Will Rodman (James Franco) is a scientist at biotechnology company Gen-Sys who has been trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer’s disease and is testing a new gene therapy drug on chimpanzees. The drug, a modified virus, mutates the chimpanzees, giving them a human level of intelligence. A female chimp who believes her baby is being threatened goes on a rampage and is shot by security guards. Will’s boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) subsequently orders chimp handler Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine) to euthanize the remaining test chimpanzees. Franklin cannot bring himself to kill the baby chimp and instead gives him to Will, who takes him home to raise.

Will’s father Charles (John Lithgow), who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, names the baby chimp “Caesar”. Caesar (Andy Serkis) has inherited his mother’s high intelligence and develops quickly. One day, after he frightens the children of their neighbor, Hunsiker (David Hewlett), and receives a cut on his leg, Will takes him to the San Francisco Zoo where primatologist Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto) treats his injury. Will begins to take Caesar on excursions to the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, but after an encounter with a family’s German shepherd, Caesar begins to resent his status as a human “pet”. When Caesar questions his identity, Will tells him that his mother and eleven other chimps were given “medicine” and that the reason for his intelligence is that the drug affected him while still in the womb. Caesar becomes more aware of his biological identity and begins to view himself as different from his human family.

A desperate Will tests a sample of his cure on his father. At first, his father’s condition improves, but eventually his immune system fights off the virus and his dementia returns. Confused, he attempts to drive Hunsiker’s car, thinking it is his own, and damages it, causing Hunsiker to lose his temper. Caesar witnesses the confrontation and attacks Hunsiker. He is subsequently removed from Will’s house by authorities and held in the San Bruno Primate Shelter run by John Landon (Brian Cox), where he is treated cruelly by the other apes and the chief guard, Landon’s son Dodge (Tom Felton). Caesar escapes from his cell and frees a gorilla kept in solitary confinement. With the gorilla’s assistance, Caesar gains dominance over the other apes by beating the sanctuary’s alpha chimp.

Will creates a more powerful form of the virus to resume treating his father, and Jacobs clears its testing on chimpanzees, which further increases their intelligence. However, unbeknownst to the scientists, it is fatal to humans. Franklin is exposed to the new virus and begins sneezing blood. Attempting to contact Will at his home, he accidentally infects Hunsiker, and is later discovered dead in his apartment. Will attempts to warn Jacobs against further testing but when Jacobs refuses to listen, Will quits his job.

After Charles’ death, Will bribes the elder Landon into releasing Caesar into his custody, but Caesar refuses to leave. He later escapes from the ape facility on his own and returns to Will’s house, where he steals canisters of the new virus and releases it throughout the cage area at the facility, enhancing the intelligence of his fellow apes. The apes put an escape plan into motion. Dodge attempts to intervene, leading to a fight with Caesar. Caesar shocks Dodge by shouting “No!” at him, and later kills him through electrocution. The liberated apes storm the city and release the remaining apes from Gen-Sys, as well as the entire ape population from a zoo.

The apes force their way past a CHP blockade on the Golden Gate Bridge and escape into the redwood forest. Jacobs, aboard a helicopter, falls to his death after the helicopter crashes and one of the apes kicks it off the bridge. Will arrives and warns Caesar that the humans will hunt them down, and begs him to return home. Caesar tells Will that he “is home” among his fellow apes. The final image shows the apes climbing to the tops of the redwood trees, looking out over the San Francisco Bay.

In the post-credits scene, Hunsiker, an airline pilot, arrives at work, infected by the virus. The camera pans to a filled flight-status display board, then fades into a stylized flight map animated with blooming trajectories implying the worldwide spread of a global pandemic

REVIEW:

Skeptical is not the word for what  originally thought of the notion of rebooting the great Planet of the Apes franchise. This whole idea of rebooting stuff is offensive and just goes to show that Hollywood can’t come up with their own ideas to save their lives! That point aside, this turned out to not be half bad.

If you’re not familiar with the original movies, they basically are about the Earth being run by primates with very few humans surviving, or something close to that. This film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, apparently seeks to inform the public how it was that the apes took over, or at least start to take over.

It would appear that this all started with a formula that was meant to cure diseases such as Alzheimer’s, but through some greedy corporation trigger happy guards. Unbeknownst to them, though, the “crazy” monkey they killed was doing nothing more that protecting her child. A child that was born with the drug in his system, and would go on to be raised by the doctor who created the drug. I don’t need to tell you that this all leads to things that aren’t so good, do I?

The most impressive thing about this film isn’t the story, but rather the motion capture, an art form that many are lobbying the Academy to create an award category for, and who can blame them, after this impressive showing. Sure, we’ve seen some great performances using this medium before, but this is the first time I believe we’ve really seen it at this magnitude. There is something to be said for this artistry and the mastery that Andy Serkis brings to the table when he is being “captured”.

I loved how this is a film called Rise of the Planet of the Apes. For the most part, they were the stars, too. Isn’t that the way it should be? Such a shame the Transformers movies were so hell bent on the human rather than the robots. This film goes to prove that just because you have humans in a film doesn’t mean they have to be important. Lord knows this could have very well gone into some doe-eyed love story between Franco and Pinto, but didn’t. The only real human emotion we got was the love for Caesar and a hint of sadness with the care and death of the father.

The cast really isn’t anything to talk about. They do their lines and get out of the way, allowing the apes to take center stage. However, it should be noted that Tyler Labine is capable of doing a serious role and keeping his clothes on, unlike in A Good Old Fashioned Orgy. Also, Tom Felton has started to make a name for himself away from Draco Malfoy, but it appears he’s just destined to be the villainous type of character actor, if this is any indication.

In conclusion, while I am not a fan of rebooting a franchise when they could have very well just have come up with some original idea, this is actually a really good film. The story is deep enough and there weren’t any plotholes that were glaring enough to be mentioned. While there probably could have been a bit more heart in it, it should be remembered that this isn’t a drama or kiddie film, so there really is no need for such theatrics.

Final verdict on Rise of the Planet of the Apes? Well, it has moments of greatness, mostly involving the apes. The fact that it lets the apes be the stars rather than forcing the humans down our throats is a huge plus in my book. The violent streak by the monkeys also really sells how they feel slighted by the human race and are out for blood. This is just a really good film that should definitely be seen by all. I highly recommend it, and then when you’re done, check out the original films.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars