This is a weekly meme that I am hosting here at Reviews from a Bookworm. To take part all you have to do is share a movie review once a week, link back to Reviews from a Bookworm and add your link to the linky tool.
This weeks movie review will be for:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
It took me the longest time to decide if I wanted to go see this movie or not, I was put off for a number of reasons. The first was that James Franco wasn't going to be in it, I really enjoyed his character in the first movie and wanted to see that storyline continue. The other reason was that I really, really, really enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes and I didn't want them to ruin it/ Sequels can often be disappointing, it's rare to get a Catching Fire type sequel. So it was with a lot of trepidation that I sat down in my local cinema to watch the new Planet of the Apes movie.
The movie is set about ten years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the ALZ-113 virus has wiped out the majority of the human race, the rest are living in a world that's unrecognisable. Caesar is the leader of the apes, they've made their home in the Muir Woods and are unsure whether any humans have even survived. But after an encounter with some humans in the woods leads to one of the apes being killed, Caesar realises that he must protect his home. He leads a large group of the apes to the human encampment to send them a warning, he does not want a war but that the apes would fight to protect their home. Malcolm, one of the humans, begs Caesar to let him and a small group of humans to heal the dam in the Muir Woods. Caesar agrees, which causes tension between some of the apes, especially Koba, who still doesn't trust the humans. As tensions rise and events unfold we are able to see how this world will one day become the Planet of the Apes.
If I was to describe the movie in one word, the first word that comes to my mind is slow. It did feel very slow at times, it didn't drag but it wasn't as action packed the whole way through as the advert leads you to believe. I thought this movie was going to be about the war between apes and humans, the war that would lead to the humans complete annihilation. But this is more about Caesar and his struggles with leadership, it's his struggles with protecting his home and his family and not losing who he is. He doesn't want to believe the worst in all humans like some of the apes, but he has to make tough decisions to protect those he cares about. Andy Serkis's performance is flawless, he brings so much emotion to the character of Caesar, he completely steals the show. His character shows more true and real emotion than any of the humans we encounter. Andy Serkis has been deserving of an Oscar since Gollum but this truly shows how talented he is as an actor, I really hope the Academy begin to acknowledge his work soon.
This movie had a very slow start for me, the apes sign most of the time so it's a lot of reading subtitles. I have never minded that, I have watched a lot of subtitled, foreign films over the years. But it does slow down the pace quite a bit. But they really make up for the slow start by the hour and a half mark. It's all shocks, twists, heart-stopping action and breath-holding moments where you're truly scared to find out what's going to happen. The second half of the movie totally blew me away, it won me over completely and I couldn't get enough of it.
The effects have been stepped up in this movie, you can definitely see they have been given a much larger budget. The apes are perfectly done, they've been improved upon a lot since the first movie. You can see the actors emotions coming through a lot more than you could in the first.
This weeks movie review will be for:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
It took me the longest time to decide if I wanted to go see this movie or not, I was put off for a number of reasons. The first was that James Franco wasn't going to be in it, I really enjoyed his character in the first movie and wanted to see that storyline continue. The other reason was that I really, really, really enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes and I didn't want them to ruin it/ Sequels can often be disappointing, it's rare to get a Catching Fire type sequel. So it was with a lot of trepidation that I sat down in my local cinema to watch the new Planet of the Apes movie.The movie is set about ten years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the ALZ-113 virus has wiped out the majority of the human race, the rest are living in a world that's unrecognisable. Caesar is the leader of the apes, they've made their home in the Muir Woods and are unsure whether any humans have even survived. But after an encounter with some humans in the woods leads to one of the apes being killed, Caesar realises that he must protect his home. He leads a large group of the apes to the human encampment to send them a warning, he does not want a war but that the apes would fight to protect their home. Malcolm, one of the humans, begs Caesar to let him and a small group of humans to heal the dam in the Muir Woods. Caesar agrees, which causes tension between some of the apes, especially Koba, who still doesn't trust the humans. As tensions rise and events unfold we are able to see how this world will one day become the Planet of the Apes.
If I was to describe the movie in one word, the first word that comes to my mind is slow. It did feel very slow at times, it didn't drag but it wasn't as action packed the whole way through as the advert leads you to believe. I thought this movie was going to be about the war between apes and humans, the war that would lead to the humans complete annihilation. But this is more about Caesar and his struggles with leadership, it's his struggles with protecting his home and his family and not losing who he is. He doesn't want to believe the worst in all humans like some of the apes, but he has to make tough decisions to protect those he cares about. Andy Serkis's performance is flawless, he brings so much emotion to the character of Caesar, he completely steals the show. His character shows more true and real emotion than any of the humans we encounter. Andy Serkis has been deserving of an Oscar since Gollum but this truly shows how talented he is as an actor, I really hope the Academy begin to acknowledge his work soon.This movie had a very slow start for me, the apes sign most of the time so it's a lot of reading subtitles. I have never minded that, I have watched a lot of subtitled, foreign films over the years. But it does slow down the pace quite a bit. But they really make up for the slow start by the hour and a half mark. It's all shocks, twists, heart-stopping action and breath-holding moments where you're truly scared to find out what's going to happen. The second half of the movie totally blew me away, it won me over completely and I couldn't get enough of it.
The effects have been stepped up in this movie, you can definitely see they have been given a much larger budget. The apes are perfectly done, they've been improved upon a lot since the first movie. You can see the actors emotions coming through a lot more than you could in the first.
7/10 Butterflies
The slow start made me feel like the trailers lied to me, this wasn't an action packed movie. This wasn't man versus ape. It had such a slow start, but it was entirely necessary. It builds up the story so much and gives you so much more of Caesar's story and journey as a leader. The movie takes a very dramatic turn at the hour and a half mark and I was not expecting it, but it was exactly what I needed. The action ramps up and I couldn't get enough of it. I left the cinema feeling really satisfied with this sequel and pretty excited to see what they do with the series next.
I have been meaning to take part in both of the following memes for a while now, so its nice to finally be able to get to them. I will be taking part in Reading is Fun Again's Thoughtful Thursday and Okay, Let's Read's Thursday Thoughts, picking between them or doing both topics each week.
My Favourite Bookshop
When it comes to buying books, which store is your favourite? Do you prefer big chain stores or independent bookshops? Do you even have any independent bookshop near you? How often would you say you go to the bookshop? Do you buy something every time you go?
If I am completely honest, I buy most of my books from Book Depository now. That's because they are really cheap and do free shipping and they have all the books I can't find in my local stores. I only have two bookshops near me, one is a Waterstones and one is a WHSmiths. They are about a 30 second walk from one another and their stock is almost identical. You're always going to pay full price for a book or, if you're lucky, get a buy one get one half price deal. I do go to The Works a lot, which is amazing and does a ton of 3 for £5 deals on books. I love it.
My other favourite thing to do is go to charity shops, they do amazing deals. There are some truly marvellous ones that you can find in London. The Oxfam bookshops are some of my favourites, they're reasonably priced and have a huge selection.
As far as how often I go to the bookshop, it's an embarrassing answer. I work near my bookshop and even though I work in a library, and am surrounded by books all day, that I could borrow for NOTHING, I still go to the bookshop almost every day after work. So, usually about 3-4 times a week. Do I always buy something? Nope. I hardly ever buy something. My shops just have limited options and barely any of the books I am looking for. I just can't stop myself going in and looking though, I have a serious problem.
I'm currently celebrating July with a giveaway! I am giving 6 winners the chance to win a book of their choice, worth up to £10, from Book Depository. For all the details you can go to the original post.
My other favourite thing to do is go to charity shops, they do amazing deals. There are some truly marvellous ones that you can find in London. The Oxfam bookshops are some of my favourites, they're reasonably priced and have a huge selection.
*I totally forgot to answer the other question, haha, so here it goes: *
As far as how often I go to the bookshop, it's an embarrassing answer. I work near my bookshop and even though I work in a library, and am surrounded by books all day, that I could borrow for NOTHING, I still go to the bookshop almost every day after work. So, usually about 3-4 times a week. Do I always buy something? Nope. I hardly ever buy something. My shops just have limited options and barely any of the books I am looking for. I just can't stop myself going in and looking though, I have a serious problem.
Reading Slumps
How do you deal with reading slumps?
Hahaahahahahahahah! HAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.
I don't deal with them... at least not well.
I actually wrote a whole post about how to deal with them, it's not at all helpful.
To enter to win a Kindle Fire HDX go here.
I'm currently celebrating July with a giveaway! I am giving 6 winners the chance to win a book of their choice, worth up to £10, from Book Depository. For all the details you can go to the original post.
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas: 4.5/5 Review
Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Own The Most Books Of
Five Friday Favourites: Artists & Songs
My Weekly Book Haul: YALC Edition Part 2
Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas: 4/5 Review
Kindle Fire HDX August Giveaway
The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas: 5/5 Review
So glad you ended up liking this. I am so leery about sequels as well simply because I don't want anything to ruin the first.
ReplyDeleteExactly, that's why I get so nervous before I go see them.
DeleteI'm dying to see this film, I loved the first one but I've been looking forward to this one for a while. Sorry to see it was slow but I'm glad that Andy Serkis did a good job again, he's brilliant and I agree that more people need to see it.
ReplyDeleteMy mum took my nephew to see it and she wont stop talking about how much she loves Caesar hahah.
I love Andy Serkis, that man deserves more recognition! I ADORE CAESAR! Such an amazing character.
DeleteI have to agree with your Thoughts part about the bookstores. I either buy a lot of books online (Amazon or Book Depository, depends on budget), Charity or the Works, in fact, the works eats most of my moneys on a yearly basis which always sucks, but I've found some really lovely surprising reads from there, like Boy Nobody, The Iron Fey, and so on, but I usually go for cheap or borrow from the library because full price isn't always good. I will however pre-order from actual stores not online because I like to be able to go and get it on the day and come home on the bus reading it and it's just glorious, it's what I did with Sweet Reckoning and will do with Skully, which actually cost me £7.49 instead of £15 Hardcover because of release days offers, bargain! :D
ReplyDeleteI get my pre-orders from Book Depository because they have a habit of sending them out early, you usually get it a few days or a week early. I LOVE THAT!
DeleteHmmm. I was really looking forward to this because I figured it was going to be an action-packed, non-stop kind of film. Quite bummed that wasn't the case!!
ReplyDeleteI think I'll wait until it's out on DVD or something, before seeing it.
It's in no way boring, but it's definitely a lot slower at the beginning then I thought.
DeleteI love The Works when they have good books in; they're getting better lately, actually. And wow, the deals they have on audiobooks, too.
ReplyDeleteThey really are, they had the entire UTNS trilogy in there the other day! Bought 2 sets as gifts, I already own them.
DeleteIf I worked in a library right next to a bookstore I would do the exact same thing. There can never be enough books :)
ReplyDeleteNEVER! I can't stop myself, haha.
DeleteI have heard that this movie is a good one. I was at work one day and my cousin (who works with me) started telling me about it. I thought he was going to say one thing about and he ended up telling me the whole movie... So will I see it? Maybe, but probably not in theaters. My favorite bookshop is Barnes and Noble. It's crazy how much I go there. I don't always buy books, but the people who are close to me know that a perfect present for me (whether for my birthdays or Christmas or whatever) know that a Barnes and Noble giftcard is always on my list :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I could visit the US just to go to a B&N! Like the biggest one you have, haha! I would hate it if someone ruined a whole movie for me.
DeleteYou and me both for TBD! It's the best. The free shipping, though, ohhhh it's a huge drawcard for me. Plus they have good prices...plus...if I shop at the ONE bookshop in my town I'm paying almost twice as much as if I buy online. o.O I can't afford that kind of thing!! I hardly ever buy books, so gosh, I'm shopping wisely. ;) Haha!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the Planet Apes...either of them, actually, although I know my dad was watching the super old version the other night. He's the movie guru. I mostly just watch TV series and book-adaptions AND MARVEL. Because if Marvel makes it, yes, I need watch it.
I still think it must be kind of hard to act all serious and epic when you're wearing a ridiculous suit though....
That's why I go TBD, it's just so much easier and cheaper. I am not sure what I would do without it... be even poorer I guess.
DeleteI love Marvel movies too, they are amazing!!!!!
I'm glad you enjoyed Rise of the Planet Apes, I haven't been too keen on seeing the movie but it sounds like everyone enjoyed it. It sounds like the slow start built up to something that was action packed and twisty and totally worth it! I love movies that are paced really well.
ReplyDeleteI buy a lot of my books online, on TBD and Bookworld which is an Aussie site. It is a lot cheaper than picking it up from the bookstore, although I do pick them up from time to time too. And I love the bookmarks!
Personally, I think it could have been paced a lot better but it was a great film. The build up was just a little too long.
DeleteI think online is just a lot easier because I can find books that I would never find in a UK bookshop, which is important to me.
I enjoyed the movie, I thought it was well done. It definitely focused more on Caesar and his struggle in the first half, which I liked. The scene when he went back to his house and he saw his old room and the picture with him and James Franco…I had tears in my eyes, I have to say.
ReplyDeleteBookstores…they are disappearing where I live (Dallas, Texas). No cool independent bookstores. At all. We have Barnes and Noble and Half-Priced Books. That's pretty much it. Half-Priced Books is great and I do like roaming around B&N, but I usually buy my books from Amazon. ~Pam
I was so sad James Franco wasn't in this, I really wished he was. I loved that scene, it broke my heart quite a bit.
DeleteI think most people buy books online now, it's cheaper and they have a wider selection.