Movie Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Starring: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, Andy Serkis
Director: Rupert Wyatt
20th Century Fox,  Dune Entertainment, Chernin Entertainment, USA, 2011.

Scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) is working at medical company GenSys. He is trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease and also cure his father Charles (John Lithgow). A promising new virus-based drug ALZ112 works effectively with chimpanzees boosting their intelligence. When a lab chimp escapes and causes riot at the company building, the director Jacobs (David Oyelowo) orders the project terminated and the apes killed. Will adopts a new born baby chimpanzee Caesar. Will meets vet Caroline (Freida Pinto) and they fall in love. Caesar is also intelligent so Will decides to try ALZ112 on his dying father. Charles is cured and Will gets an permission to continue the research.

Will Rodman tries to cure Alzheimer's disease

Charles is suffering from Alheimer's

Will's girlfriend Caroline

Caesar (Andy Serkis) is taught sign language so he can communicate with humans. Will, Caroline and Charles take Caesar to Redwood forest where he can climb trees. Years later Caesar starts to question his position as a pet. Will tells Caesar about his origins. Charles' dementia returns because his body is reacting against the virus. Charles crashes their neighbour Hunsiker's car and Hunsiker starts to beat Charles. Caesar defends Charles and bites Hunsiker. Caesar is captured and placed in primate shelter where animal warden Dodge Landon (Tom Felton) treats animals cruelly. Meanwhile Jacobs starts tests with more aggressive virus ALZ113. One of the new test subjects is a scarred ape Koba used previously in several tests.

Will, Caroline and Charles take Caesar to forest

Caesar yearning for freedom

Caesar gets frustrated in captivity

In captivity Caesar becomes frustrated because Will can not get him free. He starts to recruit other apes to help him escape. Orangutan Maurice knows also sign language and he befriends Caesar. Caesar picks the lock of his cage and steals some canisters of ALZ113 to make the apes intelligent. What no-one yet knows it that although ALZ113 makes apes intelligent, it is lethal to humans. 

Apes getting organized

Dodge the evil warden

The apes escape and release the test apes from the lab. They battle the police on the Golden Gate Bridge.  Caesar tries his best to get his troops abstain from killing humans unless necessary. The surviving apes flee to Redwood forest. The virus starts to spread around the world. 

Koba, better to remember his face for the future

Big and hairy traffic guards

Caesar leading his troops to freedom

The movie tells a story of Caesar spending his happy childhood with humans, being mistreated by human society and growing into a revolution leader of the apes. The CGI apes are very well created and steal the show. Their faces express different feelings convincingly. There are also many inside jokes referring the other Apes movies, for example there is a space shuttle that goes missing (and maybe returns some thousands of years later). This is a well made scifi movie, and a great reboot of the series (this can either be considered as a prequel of the other Planet of the Apes films (with some changes or a reboot).

Rating:  Very Good