Considering the “Planet of the Apes” franchise basically fizzled immediately following the 1968 original (then hit rock bottom 10 years ago with that atrocious Marky Mark remake), I was expecting “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” to be this summer’s most colossal bomb.

Color me surprised. The new “Apes” film, technically a prequel to the original film, is one of the season’s most compelling spectacles. Using its special effects to compliment a story rather than overpower it, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” begins as a thoughtful character study and transitions seamlessly into a thrilling, action-packed final act.

James Franco plays Will Rodman, a researcher who has developed a brain-healing virus he believes will be the cure to Alzheimer’s, a disease that has claimed his own father (John Lithgow in another excellent performance).

When an accident temporarily shuts down his research, Will brings home a baby chimp named Caesar, who shows incredible intelligence as a result of the virus.

As Caesar grows he becomes even smarter and more independent. Will and Caesar have a warm, father-son relationship, but Caesar begins to question his origin and purpose. Simultaneously, Will begins his research again, with more testing on apes that leads to…well, just read the title of the movie.

Franco and the other human actors are good, but Caesar is the revelation in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” Created with CGI and brilliant motion-capture performance by Andy Serkis, Caesar is a fully realized character with a tragic and ultimately exhilarating story arc.

As he did with Gollum in “Lord of the Rings” and King Kong in the Peter Jackson remake, Serkis has a true gift in bringing empathy and compassion to non-human characters. His interactions with Franco are particularly powerful, as director Rupert Wyatt demonstrates precision in utilizing special effects in scenes that aren’t about action and explosions.

Pity the advertising campaign of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” focuses on the ape mayhem in the final act. It’s much more satisfying when seeing it as a result of the plotting that precedes it. And while Caesar is a seamless computer-generated character, some of theother apes are somewhat less convincing special effects.

Still, the journey of Caesar from science experiment to revolutionary makes “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” the biggest surprise ofsummer 2011. And for once, it even leaves you itching for a sequel.
Grade: A-