Rise of the Planet of the Apes

A closer look at the story

Rise of the Planet of the Apes starts with a personal battle for scientist Will Rodman, who is set on finding a cure for the Alzheimer's disease that is gradually wearing his father away. Convinced he is close to a breakthrough, he tries his newest serum on apes. The tests reveal remarkable gains in intelligence and brain activity, most of all in Caesar, the chimpanzee Will is raising at home. Having lived a quiet life in the suburbs since birth, Caesar develops an extraordinary mind. One day, however, he is sent to a primate facility run with cruelty. The abuse he suffers there awakens his anger, and he decides to rise up against those who have hurt him. Rupert Wyatt directed this 105-minute science-fiction thriller from 2011, made in Britain and the United States from a script by Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa. Andy Serkis plays Caesar and James Franco plays Will, with Freida Pinto, John Lithgow and Brian Cox also in the cast.