Reel News: Week of August 1 – Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Change-Up in Theaters; Rio on DVD

Theatrical Releases This Week

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Director: Rupert Wyatt

An origin story set in present-day San Francisco, where man’s experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.

Fans of the series should rejoice, as the early reviews are almost entirely positive. With heavyweight acting talent on the payroll (Franco, Cox) there is a large potential upside. The downside? It’s still a movie about monkeys. At least they dumped the rubber masks.

The Change-Up
Directors: David Dobkin

Growing up together, Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) and Dave (Jason Bateman) were inseparable best friends, but as the years have passed they’ve slowly drifted apart. While Dave is an overworked lawyer, husband and father of three, Mitch has remained a single, quasi-employed man-child who has never met a responsibility he liked. To Mitch, Dave has it all: beautiful wife Jamie (Leslie Mann), kids who adore him and a high-paying job at a prestigious law firm. To Dave, living Mitch’s stress-free life without obligation or consequence would be a dream come true. Following a drunken night out together, Mitch and Dave’s worlds are turned upside down when they wake up in each other’s bodies and proceed to freak out. Despite the freedom from their normal routines and habits, the guys soon discover that each other’s lives are nowhere near as rosy as they once seemed.

Apparently we’re still making body swap comedies. Sure, this one is for adults, but the target audience has seen “Quantum Leap,” “Face/Off,” “Freaky Friday,” “Vice Versa,” “Switch,” “Freaky Friday” (again), “Like Father Like Son,” and half the Olsen girls’ catalog. Look for my review on The Dagger on Friday.

DVD Releases This Week

Rio
Director: Carlos Saldanha

When Blu, a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, meets the fiercely independent Jewel, he takes off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro with this bird of his dreams.

Too generic to remember once you reach the parking lot, “Rio” attempts to replace actual storytelling with large swatches of color. Best reserved for the smallest of viewers—to the suffering of anyone having to watch it with them.