Rise of the Planet of the Apes

This re-imagined prequel to a longstanding series of Planet of the Ape films from 40 years ago is actually pretty fresh with the launching a new PoTA franchise.  The star of the film is the mo-cap performance of Andy Serkis as Caesar, the newborn of Bright Eyes, an ape injected with an experimental Alzheimer's drug being researched and developed by Will Rodman (James Franco in a so-so performances).  Caesar is raised by Will (who oversees the care for his father (John Lithgow), who is afflicted with Alzheimer's.  The best thing about the film is the character development paid to Caesar, and how we get to such a possibility where apes are the dominant species on earth by the end of the film.

The CGI apes are pretty believable, and we've finally reached a point where films like this can be made within a budget, and still retain human performances through these CGI creatures.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.