Once again we defile our pristine roots of reviewing only legitimate theatre by venturing into the darkened halls of a movie house (we dare not call it theatre) and spending a couple of hours viewing the new fangled art of seeing pictures move on a large screen - with sound even!  What will they come up with next? 

 

This could be the pre-quel to the first Planet of The Apes, explaining how they became "humanized" and what motivated them to rebel against their captors.   The very realistic photo imaged apes, which were created by Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital using advanced performance capture technology are the real star here, not to say the humans weren't OK too.

It all starts with a new serum (doesn't it always?) that is supposed to be a cure for Alzheimer's and of course, the young handsome scientist - who will be referred to as YHS hereafter, is testing it on chimps before moving up to human trials.  Do we have to connect the dots for you?  You know there's going to be a problem with the serum, there's going to be a problem with the chimps being tested and all H*** is going to break loose.  The director of the research lab orders all chimps destroyed since the main test subject chimp went bezerk during a board of directors' meeting and made a monkey out of him as he was bragging how great this new drug would be. 

 

Along the way our YHS manages to meet a BFS (beautiful female scientist) and movies being what they are, the two soon have the type of connection that causes cameras to focus into a fading open window when the two get together while soft music plays in the background.

 

Meanwhile Caesar keeps growing and becoming more confused.  "Am I a pet or am I a human - and why is everyone around me so ugly?  How can he like this girl?  She doesn't have any hair on her face!"  These and other questions keep nagging him until one day he has an encounter with a neighbor who abused YHS's father.

 

That's enough to send Caesar to an "ape sanctuary" where he discovers the real meaning of animal abuse and slowly he begins to realize that he is capable of doing something about it.

That's the crux of the film.  We see how Caesar, thinking much like a human at times, begins to understand that humans often use animals for their own amusement, enrichment or betterment without regard to the animal's feelings.  How he goes about fulfilling his plan makes a gripping and fascinating story that can make you wonder about your own pet - if you have one - and how it must feel sometimes seeing the things you do and the motivation you have.  If ever there was film that can advance the cause of animal rights - this is it!

It is a dark story - sometimes laced with humor, but more often with cynicism and it actually succeeds in dividing the audience loyalties between those who root for the apes to succeed and those who are appalled to see what eventually happens to humans.  The set up is such that there has to be a sequel, not so much to discover how well the apes will fare in their future, but to see how the humans will eventually meet their failure and their downward spiral into a subculture race being manipulated by those they exploited and tormented for so long.

The production values are excellent.  Caesar played by Andy Serkis creates a total new visage of a chimpanzee, with exceptional facial expressions and body language that is often laughable, sometimes pitiful but more often than not frightening.  Don't be surprised if Oscar points a finger at Andy this time around.  Academy Award nominee James Franco is joined by Freida Pinto as the BFS, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, John Lithgow, David Oyelowo, Karin Konoval, Leah Gibson, Tyler Labine and ANDY SERKIS as CAESAR. 

Directed by Rupert Wyatt, producers Dylan Clark and Peter Cherkin screenplay by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver music composed by Patrick Doyle.  Produced by 20th Century Fox Film Corporation.

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