Well, I had one aborted attempt at seeing Rise of the Planet of the Apes and yesterday finally got to see it. This is the first time I have seen one of the Planet of the Apes movies.
In this movie, James Franco is a scientist treating chimpanzees with a serum he hopes will provide a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Franco has more than a professional interest in the tests because his father suffers from the condition and we soon see that he will step over the boundaries to push his tests. This includes taking a baby chimpanzee home which he raises as a family member for eight (or is it five?) years. The chimp is highly intelligent and boosted by the wonder serum is soon communicating and behaving like any other prodigal family member.
You don't need to be a scientist to realise that something has to give and, of course, eventually baby, or surely by now adult, chimp has to face the wider, cruel world.
In my world, scientists never look as cute as Franco although as I haven't as yet met blogger/scientist Adaptive Radiation I shouldn't be too hasty to write off Franco's casting in the role.
The chimpanzees, many of them human performers captured through computerised gee-whizzery, are really terrific possessing wonderful personalities and they are beautifully delineated as individuals.
Superior science fiction.
You've seen my photos on my blog Victor. I wish scientists look that good.
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