Rise of the Planet of the Apes

2011  PG-13  SCIENCE FICTION  1h 50min

CAST— James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, Andy Serkis

MUSIC— Patrick Doyle  DIRECTOR— Rupert Wyatt

     Ever wonder how those damn dirty apes got their stinking paws on our planet, thus turning it into the madhouse presented in Planet of the Apes (1968)? Let’s begin at the beginning. A young doctor has his sights set on a cure for Alzheimer’s. Using apes as test subjects for his formula the future of the project looks bright. Enter Caesar, a newborn chimp who had unknowingly been administered the drug in utero. Though Caesar grows normally physically he exhibits unusually high cognitive function (in other words, this is one smart primate). But Caesar isn’t a baby anymore; his instincts begin to take over and his guardians can no longer care for him. By court order they remand Caesar to a less than reputable retirement home. Though Caesar thinks like a human he most definitely is not. Here Caesar stages an uprising that will soon turn Earth into a planet of the… well, you know. Terrific (Oscar-nominated) visuals throughout, a captivating, psychological edge and a dynamite performance by motion capture maestro Andy Serkis all add up to a home run, despite the potential for a foul. Check it out, bright eyes.

OUR RATING— ***

FOLLOWED BY— Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)