Rise of the Planet of the Apes

"Rodman" (quite an engaging effort from James Franco) is doing a bit of experimentation on apes to try and find a way to treat his ailing father's Alzheimer's. It's when one of those goes bonkers and is killed that he realises that she had recently given birth. He retrieves the youngster and rears it at the home he shares with dad "Charles" (John Lithgow). It's all going fine until "Caesar" spots a neighbour having a go at the confused old man and decides he's having none of that. Now enter Brian Cox and his truly odious sidekick "Dodge" (Tom Felton) who are in charge of the newly incarcerated "Caesar". This is not a character to be dominated though, and after a nervous start he begins to learn - how to get out of this trap and how to avenge himself on those who are keeping his brethren locked up. It's a solid story, well told, with quite a lot packed into this shorter and well crafted depiction of humankind's intolerance and ignorance of these adaptable and intuitive creatures. It's not long before "Caesar" is exhibiting cohesive thoughts and leadership skills so you would not be betting against him achieving his goals... It's a bit cheesy at the beginning, this, but once it's got into gear it moves along quickly and offers us quite a bit of food for thought - about our science, our attitudes and our pharmaceutical industries too.