Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Well, it’s been a good while since I saw this movie at the cinema so I will do my very best to write a good review about it.

James Franco plays Will Rodman, a scientist who is trying to find the cure to Alzheimers. Having secretly been testing his wonder-drug creation on his father, Charles (John Lithgo) after an ape showed signs of incredible, increased intelligence, things of course begin to go wrong in the lives of the Rodman family.

After the ape test subject begins to show signs of violence and attacks those who may be looking into investing in the wonderdrug, and is shot dead, Will takes matters into his own hands when he smuggles out an infant Chimpanzee and uses him in his experiments at home.

Caesar, the Chimpanzee, becomes one of the family and again shows increased signs of intelligence. But when his “grandfather”, Charles starts to lose his mind again, Caesar becomes overprotective and attacks a neighbour, forcing Will to give him up. He is taken to a holding facility run by John Landon (Brian Cox) and is subjected to torture and abuse from Landon’s son, Dodge (Tom Felton). But Caesar is no ordinary Chimpanzee, and he leads a revolution with the other primates to take over San Francisco.

When a battle breaks out on the Golden Gate bridge between the apes and the authorities, Will realises that Caesar just wants to be free and they escape into Muir Woods to live out there natural lives.

All in all, it was a reasonable take on a prequel to the 60s originals with a great cast and good special effects. I give Rise of the Planet of the Apes an 8 out of 10.

Next Review: Cowboys and Aliens