EVOLUTION BECOMES REVOLUTION.

In the near future, San Francisco scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) has invented a drug that is supposed to cure Alzheimer’s… but its most dramatic effect is on apes in experiments that leave them significantly smarter.

This reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise shares ideas with Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), but the filmmakers wisely came up with a fresh take that reintroduces the ape leader Caesar in an effective way – with startlingly good visual effects that make the primates seem real (with another great mo-cap performance by Andy Serkis).

The story offers no surprises, but fun references to the original and well-paced, explosive action.

2011-U.S. 105 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Rupert Wyatt. Screenplay: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver. Music: Patrick Doyle. Cast: James Franco (Will Rodman), Freida Pinto (Caroline Aranha), John Lithgow (Charles Rodman), Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, Andy Serkis. 

Trivia: Tobey Maguire was considered for the lead role; Kathryn Bigelow, Robert Rodriguez and Tomas Alfredson for directing duties. Followed by three sequels, starting with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). 

Last word: “If you look at a Philip K. Dick story, he’s a fantastic science-fiction writer because he’s skirting away from the plausibility factor, because it’s all about story to him. He’s using it for a metaphor in our real world, so then we can understand it in that way. To me, that’s more interesting. I was trying to be as respectful and faithful to real world science as we possibly could, but that’s really not the driving force of the story.” (Wyatt, Film School Rejects)