I Root for the Ape

OMG. Just watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes with James Franco. If you rooted for the ape in King Kong you will love this movie. Caesar the ape was a total gangster. For the record I am sooo against animal testing. If it was left up to me there would be no make up that wasn’t natural, unless it could be worked out where animals didn’t suffer for vanity ** physically steps down from priggish soapbox ** and people who abuse animals would be paying fines and banned from pets and under the jail right next to criminals who abuse old people, children and identity thieves.

Caesar was undoubtedly the star of the film, and I whooped, hollered, and rooted for the ape. And he was merciful. It was the gorilla you had to watch out for…

There was this one scene where Caesar meets a dog for the first time. A fabulously mean looking German shepherd who goes nuts when he sees him. Caesar looks, like huh? WTF is this? Meanwhile, the dogs still barking his head off, Caesar growls once, and that pooch… talk about running with tail between legs! Total G.

There were several sublimal and rather heavy handed messages to be had here, one of which is that nature shouldn’t be caged. But then I don’t believe people should be caged either. Half the time we can’t even see the bars, or we don’t realize that we’ve locked our ownselves up with limited thinking. Any adult who rides the train every day to work likely knows just what I’m talking about.

Then there was a more subtle discussion of the idea that love doesn’t always conquer all when two parties are too different – in this case Caesar and James of the chewy pout Franco. Yes, the two loved each other – there’s a lip trembling scene where Caesar makes the decision to stay with his own people vs. going home with James who has just plunked down a crap load of money to buy his freedom – James raises Caesar from the cutest little scrap of primate ever and teaches him almost everything he knows. But sometimes when your own people need you, you may be compelled to sacrifice love for the mission, for the betterment of many vs the satisfaction of a few.

Anywho, if you like action, and well done CG, two thumbs up!