Rise of the Planet of the Apes Movie Review

A brilliant reimagining that tells the beginning of the simians' rise to power. Groundbreaking motion capture, powerful performances & a timely story made the world feel for a chimpanzee!

Genre: Action / Drama / Sci-Fi

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Cast: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Karin Konoval, Christopher Gordon, Terry Notary, David Oyelowo, Tom Felton & Brian Cox.

Run Time: 110 min.

US Release: 05 August 2011

UK Release: 11 August 2011

German Release: 11 August 2011

I planned to review Split today; however, after watching it yesterday, I quickly realised I need more time to think about it, possibly needing to rewatch it. So today I will continue my review series on the Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy, which will conclude with this year's War for the Planet of the Apes, after reviewing the original last year. I watched Rise with a friend of mine some five years back, not really thinking much about it. We hadn’t seen the trailers or expected much after the catastrophic Tim Burton adaptation a decade earlier. Imagine our surprise faces when we left the viewing room, having experienced something mind-blowing!

— WARNING, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS! —

Scientist Will Rodman (Franco) tests an experimental Alzheimer’s cure on chimpanzees, inadvertently giving them human-like intelligence. After a test subject is killed, the project is shut down. Will secretly rescues the infant, Caesar (Serkis), who inherits his mother’s intelligence and grows up in Will’s home, learning sign language. Will also uses the “cure” to temporarily heal his father’s (Lithgow) Alzheimer’s. As Caesar matures, he becomes increasingly isolated from humans. He is taken away and placed in an abusive primate shelter after protecting Will’s father from their aggressive neighbour.

Determined to free himself plus his kind, Caesar uses his intelligence to establish dominance over the other apes. He escapes the shelter, steals the new formula ALZ-113 from Will’s lab, then exposes the other primates to the drug. Caesar leads the now intelligent apes in a citywide breakout, freeing others before fighting through a police blockade. They eventually reach the safety of Muir Woods, where Will finds Caesar but can’t convince him to return home. Meanwhile, ALZ-113 proves deadly to humans, as an infected pilot unknowingly spreads the virus worldwide.

As a prequel to the first picture of 1968, it leaves little wiggle room for surprising twists, being rather predictable in its outcome. That said, it still tells an emotionally compelling tale, flipping and reversing the original by framing everything through the eyes of the chimpanzee Caesar. It also shifts in tone, moving away from fantastical wormholes or time travel, leaning more into grounded medical science fiction, making it more relatable while still creating a high-stakes domino effect.

The pacing mostly moves at a comfortable, consistent rate, though it can drag a little through the second act, while rushing side aspects in the form of montages. Caesar’s growing arc, from a mistreated animal to a rebel leader in the last act, is emotionally engaging, just as convincing. That said, while the film establishes a sincere basis for connecting with the apes, it also leaves a more poignant debate underdeveloped: that of animal experimentation in science and its ethical implications.

The dialogues are well scripted, balancing the science with the sentimental. The exchanges between Will and his Alzheimer’s suffering father give the narrative a personal touch, as well as giving a clearer motivation for why he is excessively searching for a cure, which leads to clear scientific expositions. In contrast, Serkis gives a powerful non-verbal communication through motion capture.

I had expected James Franco to lead; however, to my surprise, the motion-captured CGI simian, portrayed by Andy Serkis, became the real star. At its core, this is a coming-of-age story that follows Caesar's evolution from an experimental prodigy to a surrogate family member, then to a rebel leader. His bittersweet bond with the Rodman family clashes with his growing awareness of humankind's ruthless nature, ultimately turning his journey into a battle for freedom. Serkis delivers a phenomenal performance through expressive gestures and body language, while the VFX team gives Caesar's animated eyes remarkable emotional depth.

Unfortunately, one of the film's biggest shortcomings is its heavy-handed villainisation of humanity. While Caesar's immediate human family is nurturing, albeit flawed, the rest of the cast is portrayed as excessively aggressive, selfish, and despicable. Tom Felton's Dodge Landon embodies this problem through his over-the-top cruelty, while David Oyelowo's profit-driven executive, Steven Jacobs, feels like a conventional corporate villain. Even the rude neighbour, played by David Hewlett, seems to exist solely to reinforce the film's bleak view of humanity.

James Franco's Will Rodman, despite being the primary human protagonist, takes more of a supporting role. His desperate pursuit of an Alzheimer's cure is driven by his desire to save his father, Charles, played magnificently by John Lithgow, whose heartbreaking performance captures the vulnerability of a man losing himself to illness. Although I doubted Franco's ability to carry the role, he delivers a grounded, emotionally resonant performance. His devotion extends to Caesar, whose presence begins with scientific curiosity after a failed experiment but gradually becomes genuine surrogate fatherhood.

Rounding out the human cast is Freida Pinto as Caroline Aranha, a veterinarian who gradually becomes Will's romantic interest. Unfortunately, her character is easily the least developed of the principal cast, remaining largely one-dimensional throughout the film. The romantic subplot between her and Will is equally underwhelming, moving so quickly that their growing affection feels assumed rather than earned.

The cinematography by Andrew Lesnie, is stunningly to behold, creating a distinguishing atmospheric style that creates a believable world, further anchored by its naturalistic use of lighting. Further, the colour palette distinguished between the warm space of Rodman's home, contrasting with the colder, restrictive hues of the sanctuary or the synthetic white tones of the lab. The effects are a masterclass in technical achievement, combining both Serkis motion-capture with Weta’s digital work to create a convincing dramatic protagonist

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Verdict: In the end, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an emotionally compelling reboot-prequel that thrives on Caesar’s character development, Andy Serkis’s phenomenal motion-capture performance, and Weta’s groundbreaking visual effects. Despite predictable plot developments, uneven middle-section pacing, one-dimensional antagonists, and an underdeveloped romantic subplot, the film delivers a thought-provoking science-fiction story grounded in genuine emotional weight. Its exploration of freedom, scientific ethics, and humanity’s arrogance gives the narrative substance beyond its spectacular action sequences. A gripping, visually stunning origin story that occasionally stumbles in its execution but remains a remarkable achievement. It is worth watching, and even worth owning on disc! This first instalment in a new trilogy absolutely deserves an 8.0  out of 10. 

So, Rise of the Planet of the Apes… have you seen it? Are you looking forward to seeing the trilogy's great finale this year? Let me know in the comments & thank you for reading!