No, itâs not a classic, but it will not bore you to tears like Tim Burtonâs Planet of the Apes. Really, thatâs all that needs to be said on the matter. But it is the business of a review to fill a certain amount of space, and writing âit will not bore you to tearsâ does not fill enough of this space. And so Iâm forced to say more than needs to be said.
What more shall I say? How about: Not one minute in this movie will put you to sleep. But isnât that the same as âit will not bore you to tearsâ? Yes it is. What if I add: This is impressive because all of the action (the ape/human Armageddon) is saved for the ending. Indeed, the main part of Rupert Wyattâs filmâwhich, of course, has its holes, its predictable plot turns, its dumb linesâis a fascinating family drama.
At the center of this family is a scientist, Will Rodman (James Franco), who has dedicated all of his learning and brilliance to finding a cure for his fatherâs illness, Alzheimerâs. The son works for a global pharmaceutical corporation thatâs based in San Francisco and managed by a black Briton, Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo). (Yes, the fact that the manager is black is very important, but because the importance of the fact is only revealed at the end of the film, I canât say a word more about it.) Anyway, the black British manager needs results fast, but Rodmanâs experiments with the chimps are going nowhere. Finally, his department is closed, and Rodman spares the life of one of the chimps, a baby named Caesar, by secretly taking it home.
Caesar lives in the attic. Caesar is super smart because his motherâs brain was enhanced by some experimental anti-Alzheimerâs drug. Caesar becomes the grandson of the house. So, thereâs the core of the family drama: A sick grandfather, a frustrated son, and a chimp grandson. The chimp is raised well enough, but he becomes too attached, too protective, too in love with his human family. The human family ultimately betrays this love and the chimp turns from friend to foe, from son to revolutionary. If the human family will not love him, he will make his own ape family, his own ape world. To borrow the words of UB40 pop tune: âAnd we shall build our own society, and we shall sing, we shall sing our own song.â
Near the end of the film, a massive gorilla leaps from the Golden Gate Bridge and crashes into a helicopter. In the helicopter is the black Briton. But I canât get into any of this without being a spoiler. And, besides, I already told you all that needs to be said about this movie.
This article has been updated since its original publication.