</a>Rise of the Planet of the Apes is, in a word, amazing. But more on that later. I can't say that it's a cefrept film. There is the occasional plot hole to be jumped here, a suspension of disbelief required there. But that aside, Rise succeeds on just about every level imaginable: well written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, well directed by Rupert Wyatt, with excellent performances from its cast, Rise is thoroughly engaging from beginning to end. Will Rodman (James Franco) is a research bio-engineer at GenSys, a genetic therapy pharmaceutical company, working hard on a virus which he hopes will be a cure for Alzheimers. Will's research has centered on a new drug ALZ-112 designed to enable neurogenesis, allowing the brain to grow new cells. The drug has shown highly promising results in one of their test subjects, a female ape nicknamed Bright Eyes who has shown a remarkable increase in intelligence after having been given the drug. Will tells his boss, Jacobs (David Oyelowo) about their progress, pushing hard for the next step: human trials. As we find out later, Will has personal reasons for wanting a cure found; his father, Charles Rodman (John Lithgow) is in the early stages of the disease but already needs a caretaker to look after him when Will is away at work. The day Will and Jacobs are to do their presentation to the GenSys board, however, things go horribly wrong. Bright Eyes goes inexplicably berserk and ends up being shot down in the conference room, dooming any chance Will had for human trials. Jacobs orders all of the test apes treated with the drug to be put down. The task falls to the senior ape caretaker Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine), who in the process of putting the apes down makes a startling discovery: a baby ape hidden in Bright Eye's pen. Apparently she had just given birth, the real reason for her aggressive reaction. He takes the infant ape to Will, saying he can't bring himself to put it down and leaves it with Will, who reluctantly takes it home with him. There his father immediately finds delight in the new arrival, naming it Caesar out of his fondness for Shakespeare. Time passes, and Caesar grows up in the Rodman household, displaying advanced intelligence for an ape which extends to his being able to learn a remarkable amount of sign language and express fairly complex thoughts. The trouble begins as Caesar gets older, sensing that he is different but unable to understand why or just how much he is different. And sensing that the world is a much bigger place than the confines of the Rodman house. A series of incidents result in Caesar being taken to a primate sanctuary specially tailored for handling apes who have either outgrown their owners or else have ended up being abandoned by circuses and zoos that have fallen on hard times. The sanctuary is run by John Landon (Brian Cox) with the care of the apes handled by his bullying son Dodge (Tom Felton) and another worker named Rodney (Jamie Harris). It is there that Caesar begins to brood on just how wrong everything happening to him is. And decides to do something about it. It's best if I don't say too much more about the plot as it is from this point on that Rise really moves into high gear. The scenes in the sanctuary are remarkably well written and it is fascinating to watch as Caesar begins to slowly but methodically take over and plan not only his own escape but the escape of all the primates. There are, as one would expect, a number of nods to the original Planet of the Apes film scattered throughout Rise, some of them blatantly obvious, some subtle and tucked away in the background. You don't need to have seen the original, but if you have it is fun to see just how many of these nods you can spot. There are also a couple of clever nods to films like Spartacus and The Ten Commandments, which are quite appropriate given the storyline themes of rebellion and escape. The cast is overall quite good, with two standout performances and one somewhat questionable choice. James Franco is suitably earnest as the scientist son wanting to save his dad from Alzheimers. Freida Pinto is quite believable as the zoo veterinarian who ends up treating Caesar after an injury becomes Franco's love interest even as she warns him that he won't be able to keep Caesar forever. David Oyelowo's Jacobs is cefrept as the director of GenSys whose only interest in ALZ-112 is its profit potential. And Brian Cox's Landon is subtly effective as the sanctuary owner, all geniality and compassion when Caesar is first brought in but shifting into impatient indifference and venality once the papers have been signed. The only questionable choice is Tom Felton, best known as Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter films. Not that he does a bad job as Dodge, mind you. It's just that the moment you see him, you just know what kind of an animal caretaker he's Read more</a>