Serkis is so intense and committed to the role, you can’t help but feel some empathy for Caesar, for his frustration and confusion. Wyatt builds tension in these scenes by playing them as if they were the central part of a prison drama, and watching Caesar manipulate his fellow chimps to wrest control is a hoot. Brian Cox runs the place with sinister facial hair, and with Tom Felton - Draco Malfoy from the “Harry Potter” movies - playing his son, you know these can’t be warmhearted guys. Thankfully, there’s a primate shelter nearby in San Bruno (what are the odds?). Everything’s humming along nicely.īut, of course, since this is a CHIMP we’re talking about, things get out of hand and Caesar must be sent away. Over the years, Will has fallen in love with the gorgeous veterinarian who treated Caesar as a baby (Freida Pinto, who’s called on to look pretty and not much else). At the same time, Will has been testing out the new drug on his dad, who is also showing signs of improvement. (Seriously? Nobody noticed a newborn chimp?) He’s got some of the new drug in him, which makes him a quick learner since he’s clearly bound for great things, he’s given the name Caesar.Īs in “Project Nim” - and they would make a no-brainer of a double feature - Caesar grows big and strong, wears clothes, learns sign language and becomes part of the family. When trouble with one of the test chimps necessitates putting all of them down, Will sneaks home a baby that’s secretly just been born. His quest is personal: His once-brilliant father (John Lithgow in the film’s few subtle scenes) suffers from the affliction. The third act makes that clear.Īt first, though, James Franco is toiling away stoically as Will Rodman, a scientist at a San Francisco-based pharmaceutical company who is doing genetic research in hopes of finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. There’s a thin layer of philosophical substance draped over a muscular action picture. But the idea that director Rupert Wyatt and writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver truly had anything serious in mind seems rather disingenuous.
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