It seems origin movies aren’t a trend Hollywood is ready to give up yet, not that I’m complaining – we’ve had some memorable gems over the years which I think lived up to the hype and delivered the goods, such as Batman Begins and the very recent X-Men First Class. Now it’s the turn of Rise of The Planet of the Apes, a revamp of the original Planet of the Apes series that was kicked off in 1968 by the homonymous flick. Although there’s a ways to go before the apes actually rise (the official release of the movie in the US is slated for August 5th), there’s already a related application available for iPhone and iPad.
In a nutshell, the story of the film deals with apes that, having been genetically tampered with by humans, develop abnormal intelligence and turn against their makers and everyone else, too. The iPhone/iPad app seems pretty cool, even though a tad limited seeing as there’s not all that much you can do with it. It offers four main options. The first one is an Intelligence Test, “the same that researchers have tasted Apes with”. Judging from the preview it has three levels of difficulty and it’s mainly a memory exam involving numerals, based on real tests performed at Kyoto University. The second feature shows info about the movie (starring cast, director, etc.) plus the theatrical trailer.
The application will also enable the user to buy tickets to the movie from inside of it, and it includes the Rise of the Planet of the Apes YouTube Channel to keep in touch with the latest related vids. The best bit is definitely the test, it works as a perfect tie-in with the story of the film and looks fairly entertaining and interesting. The other features don’t really offer anything you wouldn’t find elsewhere on the net and the concept could’ve been exploited a little better. Still, it’s a nice little app and it’ll serve well to quell anticipation before the movie comes out.
If you’re looking for other cool apps to equip your iPad or iPhone with, you might want to check out Get Creative With The WURM iPad App and iShuttr Turns The Phone Into A Professional Camera.