heatherr-29963

The commercials made me curious so I tuned in for the first episode and was not disappointed. While the very beginning seemed a bit confusing (family drama with no explanations or backstory will do that) I quickly forgot about that with all the action that followed. I watched the episode with my mom and was constantly wondering things out loud, pondering what could be going on and possible explanations for the airplane's 5-year disappearance, and to me that's the mark of a good show. One that makes you think, one that gets you interested enough that you try to come up with your own theories. The end of the episode was that kind of 'ohhh!' situation that makes me excited to tune in next week to learn more. I feel like they could take this premise in so many different ways and I'm very curious to see where the writers go with it.

It seems that some people think the jokes in this movie fall flat and there is too much unnecessary clutter, but I honestly really really loved this movie. It was a reluctant choice after not finding anything else playing that we wanted to see, but man am I glad we saw it!

Ferdinand is the cutest bull I've ever seen, and I have to say I'm not familiar with this studio's other films but I thought the animation style was wonderful. I especially liked the wide range of expressions on Ferdinand's face throughout the movie, with a few close-ups that really captured the perfection of those expressions well.

The story itself was inspirational and heartwarming, full of examples and discussions on being yourself and breaking the mold and not letting anyone else define who you are. There were some heavy-handed moments that I'm not sure a younger viewer would understand, or possibly that may be too bleak for a very young viewer. Some of the humor was a little more adult-oriented, but most of it was clean, although sometimes rather stupid. The ending is pretty much exactly what you'd expect of a feel-good kid's movie, and I liked it very much.

I was surprised to see all the negative reviews, I very much enjoyed this movie. I have not seen the previous "reboot" Planet of the Apes movies, so I was a bit concerned I might get lost in the plot, but I was able to follow along easily.

The visuals in this movie are wonderful. The scenery is beautiful, breathtaking at times, and even the scenery stuff done with CGI seemed very realistic. The apes themselves were wonderfully done, the details of the emotions on their faces, especially with Caesar, was impressive.

I enjoyed the story line and found myself rooting for the apes almost immediately, and I definitely felt connected to the characters. Caesar's moral dilemmas and actions are completely relate-able, and I'm not ashamed to admit I teared up a couple of times. However, the humans are not painted as cold-hearted monsters; As the Colonel explains to Caesar, they have their own reasons for the actions that they take, and if the apes were in their position they may have done the same things.

This movie was a great experience and I'm very glad I saw it in the theater, the huge screen definitely added to the excitement.