Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

This most recent effort to revive the once prominent Planet of the Apes franchise is far more successful on nearly every level then was the disastrous 2001 Tim Burton reboot. (As a side note I remember hearing in the 1990's that Oliver Stone of all people was interesting in doing a remake of Planet of the Apes with Arnold Schwarzenegger, I'm pretty sure that would have been a disaster as well, but probably a more interesting one then Tim Burton's rather pointless and uninspired effort. Moving on). Screen writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver's new take servers as an origin story or jumping off point for what 20th Century Fox no doubt hopes will be a long and success series of films, and I'm pretty sure at least one of those predicted future films will deal with the crew of the first manned mission to Mars as this movie goes out of its way to mention them although it has no bearing on the immediate plot. Also (spoiler) there is that plague the apes are immune too which is hardly dealt with in this film but will doubtless be the catalyst for the Earth becoming a 'planet of the apes'.

The plot of this movie has to deal with Dr. James Franco and his efforts to come up with a cure of Alzheimer's as his father Jon Lithgow has that tragic disease. Dr. Franco is testing the potential cures he is working on on Apes, his viral-based drug "ALZ-112' shows promise until one of the test apes "Bright Eyes" (wink, nod) goes nuts and the project is terminated with the surviving apes on the serum all slated to be exterminated. One Ape, a new born  James names Caesar, is saved however and taken home by the doctor to live with him and his father. Caesar shows that he has inherited the heightened intelligence his mother had developed as a result of James drug, Dr. Franco studies him and keeps working on his serum which he eventually gives to his father to great effect, at least temporarily. James also gets an obligatory love interest in the form of a veterinarian played by Freida Pinto (note to studios, more Freida Pinto please).

The ape Caesar is played by the Olivier of motion capture Andy Serkis and is the best thing in the film, which is rather odd when you think about it.  Much of this movie is from an apes perspective, and Caesar, a non-human is by far the most developed and nuanced character in the film. Now I'd say this mostly works, but it also kept tugging at the back of my head throughout the film as I watching a lot of humans die at Ape hands, its a weird position for a viewer to be in loyalty wise. Not great, not bad, but intriguingly original in its take on a nearly half century old movie property. ***