A scientist working on a cure for Alzheimer's takes home a baby chimpanzee with high intelligence.
If you are a fan of the Franklin J. Schaffner film there is no reason not to like this reboot prequel, as it takes a plausible approach to getting us to the original's concept.
The star of the show is Caesar the chimp, who is brought to life with 2011 CGI and a great performance from Andy Serkis. His interactions with all other characters are very cinematic and the highlight of the film. He is supported well by James Franco, John Lithgow, Tom Felton, Brian Cox, and David Oyelowo.
Generally the plot focuses on character development and origins without doing too much that could have made it long-winded. There are the odd few contrived moments and plot holes that defy logic, but if you have the right suspension of disbelief it does the film no real harm.
Visually it has lots of memorable images that tell the story of Caesar's journey. The best parts involve his growth as a character and the relationship between apes and humans.
If you need lots of action spectacle in your movies, it has plenty of that with its inevitable conflict between human and ape characters. For me this aspect is a mixed bag as it has both crowd pleasing character moments and ridiculously OTT physical feats. The CGI is strong and everything is enhanced by the soundtrack.
