A decade has passed since Tim Burtonās Planet Of The Apes reimagining ā time enough not just to upgrade its old-school prosthetics with photorealistic CG hominids, but also to learn from its mistakes.
In thrall to his 1968 inspiration, Burton produced an inferior copy that, rather like Mark Wahlbergās character Leo, didnāt seem to have a single idea in its head.
Rupert Wyattās reboot-slash-prequel rights that immediately by being about something: animal testing, nature versus nurture, the perils of DNA tinkering. This time around, itās not just the apes that have above-average intelligence.
In a lush, far-off jungle, a female chimpanzee is seized by poachers and relocated to a hi-tech lab in San Francisco, a journey telescoped via a single zoom in and out of her panic-stricken pupil.
Itās a technique ā used again later to elide her son Caesarās transition from baby orphan to inquisitive, hyperactive infant ā that instantly forges an empathy between ape and audience.
And itās one that is only bolstered by the trials Caesar undergoes as he progresses from being scientist James Francoās pet-cum-experiment ā the key to a serum that could reverse his dadās Alzheimerās ā to eventually instigating a full-blown monkey rebellion.
Those ordeals include his forcible detention in a squalid animal shelter and bad treatment at the hands of both Tom Feltonās sadistic custodian and his fellow primate inmates.
Is it any wonder weāre rooting for him to cast off his shackles? Itās classic hero stuff: the boy who would be king, evolving before our eyes into a leader, fighter and military strategist.
Indeed, if Andy Serkisā soulful, performance-captured portrayal achieves anything, it is to make Caesar a chimp of thought as well as action.
Yes, /Rise/ has its flaws. As Francoās profit-obsessed boss David Oyelowo might as well come on twirling a moustache (“I run a business, not a petting zoo!”), while Freida Pinto is a sententious, preachy pain as his primatologist girlfriend (“Some things are not meant to be changed!”).
Yet any cavils are long forgotten by the time the movie reaches its jaw-dropping crescendo, a spectacular bout of gorilla warfare on the Golden Gate Bridge that leaves several of the summerās blockbusters for dust.
In putting the apes firmly at the heart of their own franchise, while still referencing backwards with a few well-placed, Heston-related in-jokes, Wyatt has given a moribund property a whole new lease of life.

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes review
Hail Caesar!
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