At the Movies with Fatwayne

Talk about monkey business! This movie is all about monkeys – very smart monkeys.  The story shows us just how the hairy ones gained their intelligence and how they came to be dominant over mankind.  This film is a throw back to the original Planet of the Apes but is not a continuation of that franchise. This one sets the stage for a whole new series of Ape movies to follow. Will it work? I think so for two reasons. The story is both touching and exciting and can continue in practically any direction. Secondly, these apes are not like their cousins in the original series. This is due to motion capture technology and CGI. These creatures are absolutely believable.

The plot features a scientist, Will Rodman (James Franco) who is working toward a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. He uses a retrovirus which has been genetically engineered to test on chimpanzees. The virus surprisingly causes the chimps to acquire human like intelligence. Due to a dire set of circumstances all of the apes in the program are exterminated save for an infant. Will decides to take the baby home to raise it as his own. The chimp, Ceasar (Andy Serkis) flourishes in his new human environment and becomes a beloved family member especially to Will’s father Charles (John Lithgow) who is in the later stage of Alzheimer’s. Ceasar manages to get himself into trouble attempting to save a confused Charles from an abusive neighbor. He is taken away and confined in a primate facility.

In the interim, Will has been treating his father with the virus with considerable success. After a few years Charle’s immune system turns against the virus and his dementia returns with a vengeance. Seeking a solution to his father’s illness, Will creates an even more powerful form of the virus. Testing it on the lab apes he finds that it increases the intelligence of the apes even further. But alas, unbeknownst to Will, the virus proves fatal to humans.

So now the stage is set for our smart monkey, Ceasar, to escape his prison, steal the virus, free and empower his fellow hairy amigos. How he manages all of this is very clever and interesting and will not disappoint most any movie goers.

Unfortunately for the humans the virus gets into the public domain and proves to be very lethal indeed. The final outcome for mankind is left to be revealed in the sequel but the picture does not appear to be too rosy.

As mentioned previously,  this is a thought provoking movie adventure. It is also and action packed epic that should not disappoint. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Rated – PG15 -

Fatwayne’s Rating  - 

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