August 7, 2011 -- There have been over half a dozen “Planet of the Apes” movies and it could easily be argued that the last thing the world needs is another one. Yet this latest one is a darned good yarn about the dangers of monkeying around with airborne viruses that change DNA related to brain functions. In retrospect, researchers who did this probably came to realize that it was probably even more dangerous than experiments to recreate dinosaurs, or to make sharks smarter (this was actually done in the movie “Deep Blue Sea”). It is the well-worn Frankenstein scenario one more time, with feeling.

In this origin story, a well-meaning researcher, Will Rodman (played by James Franco of “Pineapple Express”) is experimenting on apes, trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative diseases of the brain. He develops a cure, but is stymied by his Dilbert-like superiors. In desperation, he tries it on his own father, Charles (John Lithgow of “Cliffhanger”). Not only does his father fully recover from Alzheimer's Disease, he actually becomes smarter than he was before the disease affected him. The apes also benefit from increased intelligence when treated with the cure, delivered in virus form. When Rodman's superiors see the fantastic profit potential of this virus, they go from being opposed to his research to overly enthusiastic about it, pushing ahead with reckless speed.

The result is good for the apes, but bad for humans. Leader of the apes is Caesar played the king of motion-capture performers, Andy Serkis, who made a name for himself playing Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” movies. Serkis, and the motion-capture wizards, work their magic to make one of the film's most compelling characters. Caesar is a thinking man's ape, loved, hated, hunted by humans and worshiped by his ape followers. He is one conflicted ape, until he finally makes his choice about where his allegiance lies. There is a lot of state of the art computer animation in this film to make the revolt of the apes into a true spectacle. There is more than a hint here of a message about using animals in laboratories, or keeping them in zoos. There is also a message about the effectiveness of apes working together, while humans are ineffective because they are selfish and work against each other. People in Congress could learn something from this movie.

While parts of the film are too obvious, like the fate of the zoo keeper who teases the apes (played by none other than Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies) and the slimy corporate guy who hopes to profit from experimenting on apes, other parts are delicious, like the revenge of the animals against a dog catcher. The movie also manages to insert a few classic lines from the original film, like “Get your stinking paws off me ... ” as an homage. This is not a great movie by any means, but it is surprisingly effective, even though its ape characters are a lot more interesting than the human ones. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2011 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
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