Serkis, special effects lift 'Planet of the Apes'

"RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES" — ★★★ — James Franco, John Lithgow, Andy Serkis; PG-13 (intense and frightening sequences of action and violence); area theaters

Emerging from its B-movie roots, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is a daring bit of filmmaking. It follows the disastrous 2001 "Planet of the Apes" remake and all the actors in monkey suit movies that came before that and dares to rework the genesis and reinvent the origin of the entire series.

With the inevitable ape conclusion hanging over it the same way that monsters hide in the shadows of horror flicks, director Rupert Wyatt takes time to carefully introduce characters with good intentions and good hearts. James Franco is satisfactory as scientist Will Rodman trying to halt or reverse the effects of his father's (John Lithgow) dementia.

Unwillingly, he raises chimp Caesar, who through chemistry and genetics, is intelligent and constantly getting smarter. Played through performance capture by Andy Serkis, we watch the young chimp develop toward the inevitable conclusion suggested by the film's title.

Serkis and Weta Digital innovated digital acting with Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and grew it with "King Kong." And it's Serkis' performance that is by far the best part of the film. Working almost exclusively with nonverbal acting, he manages to feel like a genuine ape crossing the bridge from animal to human intelligence. In fact, the apes, all digital, connect with the audience without feeling artificial. The performances combined with the technical achievement here are astounding.

Unfortunately, the rest of the film can't quite keep pace. The writing is sloppy for the film's bad guys, falling into one-note cliched roles animal keepers (Tom Felton) and villainous neighbors (David Hewlett). And, after a thoughtful and patient setup, when the promised action finally comes, the intelligent primates become suddenly too stupid to open doors, preferring instead to crash through industrial glass without any injuries. They also multiply like cockroaches with every shot seemingly multiplying their numbers.

A little humor wouldn't have hurt, either, leaving the bleak, mostly intelligent, sci-fi doomsday, almost-horror film a bit relentless. But, it does manage to pose interesting ethical questions about animals and intelligence. It has us not only caring about Caesar and his hairy band, but also rooting for them, at least somewhat.

The film is much better than some of its Apes movie forefathers, and it is interesting but bleak. Despite its efforts to develop its main characters, it belongs completely to Serkis and the other performance-capture actors.