Movie Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Spoilers)

Upon first seeing the trailer for this movie, I thought it was going to be terrible.  The CGI chimps, the title, and just everything about it made it seem like it was going to be a joke: a mockery to the original film.

But at the same time, there was something to it.

"How the hell did they take over the planet?"

Cenk Uygar, host of The Young Turks (www.theyoungturks.com) said that quote best in his review of the movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBGOQvNz3vA.  I mean, that's why I went to see the movie.  Because as dumb as I thought it looked originally, I figured it would at least get me thinking.  Either it would leave me saying, "And that's why apes will never take over," if it was illogical, or, "Now I see how they could take over," if it made sense.

After seeing the movie, now I see how they could take over.

Alright, maybe it is a bit of a stretch--and I'll get to why in a second--but if you look past a few minor logical fallacies, it makes sense.  Since this was a sci-fi, intellectual type movie, I'll stick more towards reviewing the intellectual side of it.  I could spend hundreds of words saying that I liked the movie and why I liked the movie, but I think it should suffice if I simply tell you that yes, I recommend you watch this movie, and yes, it was a good movie.

As for the logic of the plot.  The first problem the movie had was this, the drug that made the apes smarter, wasn't really a drug designed to make apes smarter.  It was designed to cure Alzheimer's disease.  So to me, it's a bit of a stretch to then say that it can make people and apes smarter.

The second problem was a bit less forgivable than the first, because the movie brought it upon itself for no reason.  The drug (which was really a virus), alz-112, cured Alzheimer's in people, but then the body's immune system would destroy it and the disease would return.  Then the movie said that ape's immune systems were even stronger, but for some reason, Caesar--the main ape--never lost any intelligence.  Shouldn't have have lost intelligence even quicker?  And if the drug was going to kill people anyway, why even bother to say that its effects are temporary?

Another incredibly minor problem was that it is extremely implausible that the drug could work successful on all primates, but then kill humans.  Humans and Chimps share around 98% of DNA, and yet the drug had completely different affects on the two species.  Then gorillas and orangutans also just happened to react in the exact same way that the chimps did.

Other than that though, it made sense.  I could see how if a drug could make monkey's smarter, then they could organize an escape like that, and band together long enough to let most or all of the humans die, and then repopulate the planet.  The only question it leaves then is this: How did humans travel forward through time to reach the Planet of the Apes?  Weren't all the people dead by then?  And if they weren't, wouldn't they have been living in the Planet of the Apes already?

I hate to make it seem like it was a bad movie, because it wasn't, but that's what it left me thinking.  And it also left me thinking about a sequel.  The end of the movie seemed rather rushed to me with only about a minute's worth of screen time explaining that a pilot caught the virus, and then in the background of the credits it showed the virus spreading around the world.  This leaves me wondering if there really will be a sequel.  I can't imagine them not doing it, but I also can't imagine it being successful.  I think the best chance of a sequel would involve the apes building a time machine as their civilization grows, but I'm not sure what the movie would really be about.  Who are the good guys and bad guys then?

Speaking of good guys and bad guys, I'll leave you with one last thought.  Who were the good guys and the bad guys in this movie?  The antagonist was supposed to be the business man running the gen sys labs, but he didn't really do anything wrong.  He didn't torture the apes like the guy at the "Ape jail", and he didn't even release the drug to the public.  So in my opinion he didn't do anything wrong.  And even the guy at the Ape jail can't really be the antagonist because even though he was a jerk, he was still just doing his job.  So in the end who were the good guys and bad guys?

I give the movie a 7.5 out of 10.  If you ever need to rent a movie, give this one a shot.

Don't blame social media.

It's time to face the fact that there is nothing inherently annoying about Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media.  What is really annoying are the users.

Just because people might complain that Twitter is stupid because users are just posting what they had for breakfast and taking a picture of it, doesn't mean you should blame Twitter for this.  Blame the individual person who is doing that.  Just because Twitter allows for that to happen, doesn't mean it's Twitter's fault.  The people who are doing that would've done it anyway, now they just have an outlet that allows them to put it in your face more.

The same concept applies for Facebook.  Don't blame Facebook because you or someone you know has 1,000 friends and only talks to twenty of them.  It's not Facebook's fault, it's the users fault for accepting or sending out so many friend requests.  Plus, Facebook has the "unfriend" button for a reason.  Regular use should be made of the button as friends and interest change.  Out with the old, in with the new.

These forms of social media can be, and are, useful.  That's why people all over the world use them.  When used correctly, social media can be an efficient way of gaining and giving information.

So how should social media be used?  In my opinion, the right way to use social media, is to take the social side out of it.  The right way to use social media is to connect to people who can help you in the business world, or in your social world.  Don't connect simply because you can.  There's nothing wrong with connecting with friends, but there is something wrong with connecting to a person that goes to your school but who you never talk to.

Befriending people who you don't know well is bound to frustrate and annoy you; that's why you don't do it in real life.  No one goes out of there way to friend or follow someone who they don't have any interest in talking to.

Do not complain that you are annoyed with someone's post or tweet.  If you really don't like how someone behaves, on social media or in real life, and if they are of no benefit to you, consider that the problem may be you for connecting to them, rather than them for annoying you.