Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2011

This is a truly uplifting and inspiring film. Unless you’re a human. As the title suggests, it chronicles the events that led up to the topsy-turvy state of affairs encountered by Charlton Heston in the 1968 movie. You could say it’s all setup, but never has setup been so flat-out entertaining. A scientist develops an Alzheimer’s drug that boosts ape intelligence in tests but turns out to be fatal to humans. It’s a pity that CG tech teams are not eligible for Best Actor Oscars, because the guys that animated Caesar the chimpanzee would win hands down. It’s the expressive eyes. In Caesar they have created a truly three-dimensional, brilliantly executed character that easily out-acts the human lead James Franco—which is admittedly not that hard to do. (Franco has since stated that the role was beneath his, um, creative talents. Right.) The story follows Caesar from infancy, to awareness, to prison activist, to simian Che Guevara. The animators build their creation around motion-capture maestro Andy Serkis, who was also “inside” Gollum and King Kong. This smart popcorn flick offers originality and spectacle as well as food for thought, and will not insult your measly unenhanced intelligence.