Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

 

No one could have foreseen that remaking/rebooting/reimagining the franchise of 'Planet of the Apes' would turn out the way it did, but boy: we sure should be glad the people behind this were fully committed to doing the tales justice.

Why? Because this is one heck of a good film, that's why.

James Franco plays a scientist who is working on a cure for Alzheimer's disease because his father suffers from this horrible affliction. They of course need to test the various cures and they do this on chimpanzees, because they are fairly close to humans. One such chimpanzee is proving to be quite the miracle, as this cure gives her increased intelligence beyond anything anyone expected. Unfortunately she becomes rather aggressive one day and security guns her down. Turns out she was being protective of her newborn baby, who is also supposed to be put down together with the other chimps. But our scientist takes the little tyke home, dubs him Caesar and over the course of a few years teaches him sign language. Caesar is an exceptionally intelligent ape, which prompts our scientist to try the serum on his father, with stunning results.

However, after a few years it becomes apparent that the effect of the drug has only been temporary. Well actually: it's a type of virus and the human immune system finds a way to combat this. So when dad has a relapse and is sort of assaulted by an angry neighbour, Caesar jumps in to defend the old man and promptly gets placed in an ape sanctuary, which isn't as nice as it sounds. In fact, it is hell for the apes. But Caesar plots to escape and head for the redwood forests nearby. To do that, he forges alliances with other apes and even ventures into the home of his former owner and friend to steal some of the new virus, because he knows this will make the apes more intelligent.

Unfortunately for humans, it can also be quite lethal... 

This film isn't the action packed extravaganza one might expect. In fact, save for the final 20 minutes where there is indeed a big action set piece on the Golden Gate Bridge, this focuses solely on character and emotion. A great deal of this is brought by the wonderful motion capture that brings us real actors conveying emotions as the apes. Of course, Andy Serkis is no stranger to this phenomenon, but his turn as Caesar is truly awe-inspiring. You can always tell what exact emotion he is feeling and bringing across and it makes the entire story feel so much more grounded and heartfelt. But everyone is good, with special mention to the always impeccable John Lithgow as the father with Alzheimer's. 

Damn, Lithgow is good. He surely deserves every bit of recognition anyone can muster.

So in short: this tugs on your heartstrings almost continually and is a better film for it. But don't just take my word for it: see it yourself.