Predicting what will work as a summer blockbuster these days is as easy in trying to figure out what goes through a politician’s mind. Enter in Rise of the Planet of the Apes; another 2011 origin/prequel entry; based off the well-known Planet of the Apes storyline, was fairly quiet in tooting its promotional horn when compared to all the superhero/comic book origin tales bestowed upon audiences these last few months.

About 90 of the 105 minutes are a pleasant surprise and this origin tale could end up being one of the better ones you’ll see this year. Not to mention, one of the better summer blockbusters to boot.

Will Rodman (James Franco – casually interested this time) is a scientist residing in San Francisco, who is hell-bent on finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. A good portion of his motivation arises from trying to cure his father (James Lithgow) who is badly suffering from the incurable disease all while living with Will. The testing – done on chimps of course – has a breakthrough as the results see the test subjects gain intelligence; which translates to the drug working on humans to remedy the parts of the brain affected by the disease.

However, a few executives aren’t sold on the drug, after one of the test-chimps causes a scene in the lab. Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) orders the immediate “disposal” of the remaining subjects. As Will reluctantly goes through with the order, he finds one of the test subjects had an offspring. Will takes the young chimp home and begins to conduct his own personal tests, since the drug used on the chimp’s mother, transferred to the little guy he names Caesar (Andy Serkis doing the motion-capture thing).

Eventually, he begins testing the modified drug on his father and the results are astounding at first. Even Caesar continues to display remarkable intellectual growth. The rapidly evolving chimp is also showing a curiosity that gets him into trouble; a kind of trouble that leads him to be secluded in a primate holding facility with other ape species. Thanks to the crappy treatment by employees (Tom Felton & Brian Cox), Caesar becomes the leader of the caged crew and let’s just say they plan on changing how things are run around here.

The steady build-up is met with great anticipation from the viewing audience. Majority of the people seeing this should have some inkling to what the premise is as depicted by the numerous Planet of the Apes’ movie adaptations, the most recent being the 2001 remake helmed by Tim Burton and starring Mark Wahlberg. This prequel or reboot boasts the same theme of having superior-intelligent monkeys eventually overthrowing the human race, but this installment tweaks the reasoning of why and how. And this angle comes to the forefront towards the final 15 minutes – which is the only uneventful moment of this dramatic tale.

Yes, seeing the relationship and mannerisms of the CGI Caesar, as he grows-up in a suburban neighborhood, all while dealing with urges to play and explore life, is riveting and engaging. The complimenting musical score actually enhances the mood of what is happening on screen, to the point you realize that you’re watching something monumental take place. It really becomes an emotional viewing experience during the first two acts. The story does leap forward as the chronicling of Caesar and Will’s life is done over a roughly ten year time frame (if I did the math right). Every situation that Caesar is put in becomes an emotional spectacle and the pacing of the script by director Rupert Wyatt lingers on all the right things in justifying later actions.

As for the CGI work, everything appears real. When the apes become organized in the confines of the primate shelter; to then breaking free and weaving through neighborhoods, corporate buildings and battling police officers on the Golden Gate Bridge are all exciting to watch thanks to the realism of the situation. The climatic sequences are solid in the action department, yet this is where the story’s polished shine looses some of its luster. Mainly because you’ll learn the direction of where this tweaking reboot is headed and it takes a hit in the originality department.

Overall, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a provocative drama that dabbles in thrilling action at all the right moments. The intelligence of the screenplay is on-point when the focus is on the CGI apes as it does a thorough job in setting the tonal levels of where this origin tale is heading. Based on the intensity of the ending and the chosen the direction, the final moments is the only time the entertainment and intelligence levels drop (seemed too Disney-like). In the end though, one will be calling for more Apes.

RATING: 4 out of 5

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20th Century Fox have released the first TV spot for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It’s light on the action, but it does contain bits of new footage including a scuffle between James Franco and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter). It also looks like WETA are well on their way to completing the visuals, as we’re now getting even closer close-ups of the apes (think eyeballs).

Watch below:

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an origins story set in present-day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. One hyper-intelligent chimp called Caesar (motion captured by Andy Serkis) incites a worldwide ape revolution and causes the downfall of humankind.

James Franco plays a young, driven scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes, with Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto playing a primatologist. The movie also stars John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis as Caesar, and will be released August 5, 2011.

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20th Century Fox have released the second official trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which will most likely be shown in front of X-Men: First Class when it is released in the US on Friday.

As with most theatrical trailers, it focuses a lot on the story. We see more of the animal testing set-up, and subsequently how a small chimp called Caesar starts showing signs of human-level intelligence. Then, as suggested by the title, the apes rise.

Watch the trailer below:

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an origins story set in present-day San Francisco and is a reality-based cautionary tale, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. One hyper-intelligent chimp called Caesar (motion captured by Andy Serkis) incites a worldwide ape revolution and causes the downfall of humankind.

James Franco will be playing a young, driven scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes, with Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto playing a primatologist. The movie also stars John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis as Caesar, and will be released August 5, 2011.

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Hollywood has always had an obsession with casting young, good looking actors and actresses in movies so they can capture the teen demographic. However Bradley Cooper getting his abs out in The A-Team and Zoe Saldana firing guns in her underwear in The Losers is nothing compared to Dame Helen Mirren, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman kicking ass in Red.

A second trailer for the film was revealed today at Comic-Con, and you can watch it below;

Red, directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan and The Time Traveler’s Wife) is the story of Frank Moses (Willis), a former black-ops CIA agent, who is now living a quiet life. That is, until the day a hi-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him. With his identity compromised and the life of the woman he cares for endangered, Frank reassembles his old team (Freeman, Malkovich and Mirren) in a last ditch effort to survive.

The film also includes Brian Cox as a former Cold War spy and nemesis of Willis, Richard Dreyfuss as a wealthy man who builds a fortune out of lucrative government contracts, and Julian McMahon as the Vice President with a dark side who is at the center of a conspiracy.

Red will be released by Summit Entertainment on October 15th.

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According to The Wrap Brian Cox is in final negotiations to join James Franco, Frieda Pinto, John Lithgow and Andy Serkis in Rise of the Apes. Cox will be reuniting with director Rupert Wyatt who he worked with on The Escapist, and is set to play the villainous owner of a primate sanctuary who runs the facility without compassion for the animals that live there.

Rise of the Apes is an origins story set in present-day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. One hyper-intelligent chimp called Caesar (motion captured by Andy Serkis) incites a worldwide ape revolution and causes the downfall of humankind.

James Franco will be playing a young, driven scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes, with Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto playing a primatologist.

Rise of the Apes will begin filming this month and has a release date set for June 2011.

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Helen Mirren firing a 50-caliber machine gun, Morgan Freeman getting frisky looking at ladies bottoms, John Malkovich getting all paranoid thinking that everyone is out to kill him, and Bruce Willis having a brutal fight in an office with Karl Urban.

I present to you the teaser trailer for Red!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EREb0EZHHE

Red, directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan and The Time Traveler’s Wife) is the story of Frank Moses (Willis), a former black-ops CIA agent, who is now living a quiet life. That is, until the day a hi-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him. With his identity compromised and the life of the woman he cares for endangered, Frank reassembles his old team (Freeman, Malkovich and Mirren) in a last ditch effort to survive.

The film also includes Brian Cox as a former Cold War spy and nemesis of Willis, Richard Dreyfuss as a wealthy man who builds a fortune out of lucrative government contracts, and Julian McMahon as the Vice President with a dark side who is at the center of a conspiracy.

Summit Entertainment has set an October 15th release date for Red. It’s good to see they are putting their revenue from Twilight into good use.

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Shooting of Robert Schwentke’s adaptation of comic book Red began shooting today in Toronto. I’ll be honest – I know little to nothing about the comics, but they seem to have a cool visual style. Surprisingly it seems to involve a lot of red.

Robert Schwentke’s previous efforts include Flightplan and The Time Traveler’s Wife, which doesn’t put him in a hugely great stead – and the screenplay for Red was written by Jon & Erich Hoeber, who previously scripted 2009′s Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale. I haven’t seen Whiteout, but it didn’t get brilliant reviews… Why be interested in Red at all then?

The press release, available in its entirety over at Latino Review, lists an absolutely incredible cast: Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Karl Urban, Brian Cox, and Richard Dreyfuss. It’s star-studded anyway, and I like at least 6 of those actors. And that’s what we want to see.

Our good friend Brucie portrays Paul Moses, a retired CIA agent whose assassination is ordered by said agency’s new director. Naturally, he’s not too happy about it, resulting in many bullets and explosions, presumably. Where have we heard that before? It doesn’t sound original by any means, but then I haven’t read the comics, so I won’t make any assumptions. Well…I can hazard a guess that the plot won’t be majorly involving. I’ll gladly be proved wrong however, and despite the storyline, the combination of a great cast and a striking visual style could make this a very fun watch. We want fun, don’t we?

Red hits screens in October this year.

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With filming expected to begin in around 4 months it’s about time we got some casting news for The Hobbit, even if it just a rumour. According to an AICN scooper Brian Cox (X-Men 2, Troy) is apparently being considered to play one of the 13 dwarves that appear in the film. The scooper says he doesn’t know if the casting is a lock, or whether Guillermo Del Toro and Peter Jackson are just interested in getting the actor on-board.

If this turns out to be true then i’ll be very happy. Brian Cox is a great actor and he’s also a Scot, which will suit Gimli’s race well. Out of all the dwarves he will most likely play either Thorin Oakenshield or Balin, as they have more prominent roles.

While on the topic of dwarf casting I hope they give Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges, Mad-Eye Moody in Harry Potter) a role. Are there any actors you could see playing a dwarf in The Hobbit?

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Two years ago Michael Dougherty, writer of X2 and Superman Returns, made his directorial debut with Trick ‘r Treat which revolves around four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween. It had a release date of October 5th 2007, however Warner Bros. decided to push it back. As the film’s ideal release date would be around Halloween time it was expected they would release it the following year, but that never happened. This has left Trick ‘r Treat sitting around for nearly two years with only an odd screening here and there. However, according to ShockTillYouDrop Warner Bros. have finally decided to release the film, but it will be going straight to DVD and Blu-Ray.

This is a shame as it looks like might actually be a good film, and it is probably better than all of these Saw movies we have been getting over the years. Trick ‘r Treat, which stars Brian Cox, Anna Paquin and Dylan Baker, will be available to purchase on October 6th, 2 years and 1 day after it was originally intended to be released. Here’s the trailer below:

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The trailer for Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox is now online. It’s actually quite refreshing to see a kids movie that isn’t all CGI’d with wide eyed animals. It’s got a retro feel to it. When I first watched the trailer it kinda freaked me out a little, especially the rat, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it gave a few kids nightmares. However, after I watched it a few more times it gradually grew on me.

As the trailer shows, the film has quite a lot of cool actors providing their voices, people such as George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Brian Cox and Adrien Brody. Fantastic Mr. Fox will be released on November 13th in the US and October 23rd in the UK

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