《猩球崛起》的英文影评

After the initial success of the original Planet of the Apes back in 1968 with Charlton Heston (which I saw only a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed) they did three sequels preceding it which weren't bad through into the early 70s. Then in 2001 tragically Tim Burton tried a remake/reboot with Mark Walghberg at the helm. For me as it was seen generally by the public it was absolutely awful. Finally after another decade director Rupert Wyatt has made a second attempt at a reboot/remake and I am pleased to say he has carried it off with great aplomb.

This version first sees good-intentioned scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) doing experiments on genetically enhanced Apes to try and find a cure for Alzheimer's which his father Charles (John Lithgow) has. He ends up taking home a baby ape that he calls Caeser (Andy Serkis) when it's mother dies after being killed by security guards who thought she was going on the rampage while really she was protecting Caeser. Whilst taking care of Caeser Will discovers a drug within the Apes that will help cure his father as he also teaches Caeser how to socialise. He also develops intelligence (a side effect of the drug). Meanwhile Will ends up dating vet Caroline (Frieda Pinto) who loves Apes as much as Will.

As years go by Will's father starts to deteriorate again as the drug begins to wear off and an incident with Caeser defending Charles against an abusive next door neighbour gets the Ape catered off to a sanctuary with other Apes where Caeser is bullied by two guards, one being Dodge Landon (Tom Felton who played Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise).

Due to the cruel treatment Caeser receives at the hands of these humans and feeling neglected by Will he establishes himself as the alpha-male and plans a daring and well co-ordinated escape for freedom with the other Apes to rule over the humans (what will eventually be the case in the sequel). First off the CGI of the Apes themselves is absolutely jaw-dropping. Forget men in monkey suits in the original and the sequels that proceeded. These apes look - are actual apes, you wouldn't think that they are just special effects. It's a testament to giving this film realism as they move like real apes. The second biggest strength is the central performance by Andy Serkis as Casear, it also reflects the many strengths of silent movie making as Casear stays virtually wordless. Serkis gives a sensational central performance that deserves at least an Oscar nomination. Through Caesar's movements and facial expressions and when he finally speaks we feel everything he feels tenderness and love at Will looking after him and pain and rage when being mistreated by humans. It is bravo piece of acting and the audience feels for Casear's plight the whole way.

It's unfortunate that the humans fair less well mostly. The only ones who really make any impact is Tom Felton as the nasty guard who makes the most of his menace in a cracking performance and Lithgow as Charles who gives an accurate and sensitive portrayal of one suffering from Alzheimer's. Even then they have little character development.

Unfortunately James Franco and Frieda Pinto are nothing more than cardboard cut outs as they have severely unwritten roles (though they give decent performances). Franco though has more to

do for the first hour as the screenplay sets him up well but loses interest in him in the last hour where he does nothing except fall for the expendable vet who could have been cut from the film altogether as she was very forgettable as a character and run hopelessly after Casear. Also some of the plot is a little too sloppy with a few glaring plot holes. How come Will's neighbours delay complaining to the authorities about the chimp until it is fully grown, when it has behaved scarily for years? How come Will waits so long before telling his boss about the miraculous properties of his drug? Did they somehow slip his mind? And why does Will's boss – a poorly written corporate type profit obsessed - change abruptly from ultra-cautious about animal testing to ridiculously reckless?

However putting those faults aside there are other positives going for this film apart from Serkis's performance and the CGI. The action sequences namely the climax is well worth waiting for, which takes place on the Golden Gate Bridge is excellently choreographed and exciting to watch with beautiful cinematography from Andrew Lesnie who previous work included Lord of the Rings.

There are faults with Rise of the Planet of the Apes but not enough to stop me enjoying it all the way through. This is a worthy addition to the other versions and a terrific first film for a reboot that is certainly worthy of a sequel. These Apes are well worth seeing on the big screen. I'm really looking forward to seeing the continuation of the story and seeing how this promising new franchise will continue to develop.

(ZZ from IMDB)

第二篇：《猩球崛起》影评

《猩球崛起》影评

看《猩球崛起》之前，就看了整部电影的简介跟制作，虽然演员阵容跟制作阵容都很强大，但是今年看的电影也不少，对这个电影并没有什么信心，也没有抱着什么希望去，只是一周工作之后的一种休闲罢了，不过看完之后，确实是挺感动的。

感动于驯养员与猩猩之间的感情，感动于教授与猩猩凯撒之间的父子情，感动于凯撒与群体猩猩之间的感情。

故事讲述的是年轻的教授发明了一种可以重生脑细胞的药物，一般都用跟人类基因有些相似的灵长类动物——猩猩来做实验，大概由于教授的急功近利，让这项研究几乎要结束了，所有的实验猩猩都被处理掉了，与明眸感情深厚的驯养员留下了她的孩子，并且让教授领养，并取名凯撒。凯撒遗传母亲的绿色眸子，具有超高智力，这全归功于教授研究的药物，教授也用这个药物让自己的父亲脱离衰老的烦恼，病情也得到了控制，凯撒一点点受伤也会让教授心痛不已，一家人其乐融融，凯撒对外面的世界十分向往，但在父亲的怀抱里，也愿意放弃外面的美好。直到教授把凯撒带到野外，直到世人以宠物的眼光来看待凯撒，凯撒才发现自己的与众不同，凯撒为了保护教授的父亲，而被送进了收容所，也直到了自己母亲的事情。凯撒感受到了同类受到的威胁，有保护同类的责任，并且主动承担起这个责任，用自己的智力，当上了猩猩领袖，跑进了红杉林，那个它曾与父亲共享天伦的地方，那个曾经让自己饱受冷嘲热讽的地方。当然，教授最后父亲也失去了，儿子也失去了，算是一个悲剧人物吧，虽然他智力于开发这个利于人类的药物。

故事的结尾没有做更多的交代，但这样倒算是完美了，不想看到《金刚》中，金刚最后被人类打到了的画面。

技术性的东西，我向来没有研究很多，但是从画面、情节、配音、演员演技方面都算是上品了，这样强强结合，难怪那么多专业影评人员给予那么高的评价，当然十月电影市场的低迷，也让本片大展拳脚，可有用武之地，估计这个片子该是本月最热的片子了。看来，一部好片，天时地利人和都是很重要的，有一个好的制作团队，一个好的故事，一个好的演员阵容，在一个乱片丛生的影片群中播放，收效可想而知了。