Thursday, July 3, 2014

Fill in the _____________ of the Planet of the Apes

I gotta admit that my first impression of this preview was very negative.  It took me almost half of it to accept the fact that James Franco is not the human lead.  Why did they even bother with this film?  Who cares about computer generated talking apes anyway.  What's next Affleck as the Dark Knight?
I muscled past this massive disappointment and realized that I actually enjoyed the preview.
It opens with a shot of I Am Legend's overgrown New York (except this is San Francisco but you'll think the same thing when you see the preview).  We learn that Caesar is now conversant, has a family and has mastered Dressage (go ahead and click the link so you'll get the joke).  Commissioner Gordon shows up ready for a Gotham style street fight with the League of Assassins.  Caesar also deals with an ape itching for the fight which we are treated to glimpses of as the preview closes.

**Spoiler Alert**
This wasn't in the preview, but at some point the apes knock over the Statue of Liberty in NY and drag it to a beach somewhere.  I don't want anyone freaking out like they did in Spider-Man 2 when Gwen died.

I give this preview a bipedal-foot thumbs up.  All I can say is that it's a good thing that James Franco didn't bring back any flying monkeys from Oz or this movie would've been over faster than the preview.