Before those maniacs blew it up, the apes were just apes, and in this prequel to the entire Planet of the Apes mythology, the evolutionary process is made terrifyingly clear.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes tells the story of Will, a scientist working on a cure for Alzheimer's Disease, who tests his radical new drug treatment on laboratory apes. ALZ112, the experimental new drug, is given to a female ape that, unbeknownst to the scientists, is pregnant. When the female is put down after a violent outburst and her infant is discovered alive and unharmed, Will takes the baby home to keep him safe. Caesar, as Will's father names the ape, grows to be the most intelligent ape on the planet, and eventually goes on to be the leader of the “army” of the newly evolved apes. Simultaneously to Caesar's evolution turned revolution against the humans, the ALZ112 and its successor ALZ113 spawns a deadly virus that is destined to all but wipe out humanity on earth.

Rise of the Planet if the Apes is headlined by one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood, James Franco. Though not a huge stretch of Franco's acting skills, this flick still allows him to showcase his wide range of emotions on-screen. From brilliant yet slightly manic scientist to loving father to Caesar to horrified witness to the apes' rising, Franco plays each emotion to perfection.

Taking on the role of Caesar, brought to life by the power of motion capture CGI, is the king of motion capture technology, Andy Serkis. Serkis, who is best known for playing Gollum in the epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings, does a flawless job of acting the part of an ape. Serkis gets even the most minute details of his performance, everything from discreet gestures to full body motions, to seem authentically ape-like. The moment that Serkis gives a human-esque voice to Caesar, uttering his first English word of defiance, is truly spine-tingling.

Freida Pinto as Will's girlfriend, John Lithgow as his father and Tyler Labine as his co-worker all give strong performances. Brian Cox plays a small but entertaining role as the owner of an ape reserve where Caesar is confined, and Tom Felton, of Harry Potter fame, is a cruel reserve caretaker.

This prequel does a fair job of telling how and why the planet was overtaken by apes, yet it spends too much time on the slow evolution of the apes and all but ignores the virus that kills off the humans, in essence telling only one half of the story.

Multiple homages to the original flick are present, such as Caesar piecing together a model Statue of Liberty, and the recitation of the classic line, “Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape.”

Any fan of the original series will enjoy this flick, as will anyone who gets a kick out of watching apocalyptic, end-of-humanity-style action flicks. These apes are definitely worth your time.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars