Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Plot synopsis of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

The begins with a community of chimpanzees moves peacefully through a dense forest. The alpha stops and looks up as birds take sudden flight. Poachers appear and chase them. One chimpanzee almost escapes but is captured and dumped in a metal box. The terrified chimp can only peer through a small hole and watch the family she's leaving behind.

Sometime later, Dr. Will Rodman and Robert Franklin are excited to witness that same chimpanzee, now nicknamed Bright Eyes, solve an intelligence puzzle. Will immediately report this to his boss, Steven Jacobs. Will notes that this proves that the virus he's been developing for five years, the A.L.Z.-112, is successful.

Will requests approval for human trials, so Steven instructs Will to present his project to the board to get it. Will presents their research, noting that the chimpanzee previously could not solve a Lucas Tower puzzle. They then gave her A.L.Z.-112, a gene therapy that allows the brain to repair itself, which Will proposes as the cure for Alzheimer's.

In the labs, a caretaker prepares Bright Eyes for the presentation, but she becomes aggressive. Franklin tries to coax her with her favorite drink, but she becomes upset when let out. She tries to return to her cage, but when she sees Franklin's tranquilizer gun, she flees. While Will tells the board that A.L.Z.-112's only side effect is the green flecks on the chimp's irises, the terrified Bright Eyes rampages through the building.

She crashes through the boardroom and gets fatally shot by security. Will and the board members look in disbelief as the chimp lay lifeless on the table. As a result, Steven orders all test subjects to be put down. Franklin begs for reconsideration, arguing that the animals have personalities and attachments, but Steven only cares about business. Will asks Steven for help to continue developing A.L.Z.-112, but Steven declines.

Soon, Franklin finds a newborn chimp in Bright Eyes' cage, so Will realizes that she was just protecting her baby when she attacked. Franklin hands over the baby, and Will initially declines to take it. However, Franklin refuses to put down one more animal and asks him to do it, so Will relents. At home, Will finds his father, Charles, struggling to play the piano.

Charles mistakes Will's big day as a chemistry test due to Alzheimer's. Will shows him the baby chimp, which the older man dotes on. Later, Will wakes to the baby's cries. As he cradles the baby and prepares a bath, Will worries about his project's future. Suddenly, the baby chimp holds his finger. This convinces Will that there's still hope.

The next day, the baby surprises Will and Charles as it feeds itself despite being only a day old. Will checks and confirms that its eyes have green flecks. Three years later, Will names the baby Caesar and continues to study him. Caesar grows accustomed to human life and expertly moves around unsupervised. Will teaches him sign language and monitors Caesar's intellect, including perfectly solving a Lucas Tower.

The attic serves as Caesar's room, where he likes to observe people through the windows. While recording his findings about Caesar's intellect, Will hears a commotion upstairs. He finds Charles aggressively taking a lamp from his nurse and breaking it. Frazzled, Charles's nurse quits and comments that Charles should be in a nursing home.

Will refuses to send his father away, so he discreetly steals a few vials of A.L.Z.-112. Will gives Charles a shot of the virus while Caesar watches. The following day, Will finds Charles playing the piano well again. Will gets misty-eyed seeing Charles become more like himself again. While Will checks on Charles, Caesar watches kids ride bikes in the neighborhood. Curious, Caesar slips through an open window and finds a bike in their neighbor's shed.

A girl discovers Caesar, and her father, Douglas Hunsiker, chases him with a baseball bat. Will stops Hunsiker in time and retrieves a wounded Caesar. Will takes Caesar to see Caroline, a vet at the zoo. While being treated, Caesar is more at ease and signs casually with Will. Caroline is impressed and asks what Caesar is signing, so Will reluctantly explains that Caesar says they should go out for dinner.

Soon, Will and Caroline grow closer, and she checks out Caesar's room. She compliments Will for providing a good home, but expresses her concern about when Caesar grows up. Caroline admits that she loves chimpanzees, but she's also afraid of them. Caesar, good-naturedly, play-pretends to beat Will, showing that Caesar understood her. They laugh it off, and Caroline suggests giving him more space outdoors. Eventually, they take Caesar to the Muir Woods.

Will unlatches Caesar's leash to let him roam freely. Caesar raises a palm to Will, which Caroline explains as him asking for permission. She guides Will's hand to grant it, and Caesar zips into the lush landscape, exhilarated. Caesar finds a towering tree and climbs it. Will is happy that Caesar is at home in nature. Five years later, Caesar grows to love the Muir Woods. He climbs the trees to the top, where he likes to watch the San Francisco skyline.

Will and Caroline become lovers, though Caesar is jealous of Caroline sharing Will's attention.Caesar interrupts their tender moment but plays it off as teasing. As they head back, a dog aggressively barks at Caesar. Annoyed, Caesar screeches and scares it. Noticing their leashes, Caesar asks if he's a pet, to which Will patiently explains that he's Caesar's father. Seeing Caesar unsatisfied with that answer, Will takes him to Gen-Sys and explains that Caesar's mother died there, so Will took him in.

He explains that Caesar's mother was used to test a medicine, the same one he gave to Charles, and that she passed its effects onto Caesar. At home, Will tells Caroline that he took Caesar to save him, unaware of his inherited abilities. Will elaborates that he designed the drug to repair brain cells, but without damaged ones to fix, Caesar's brain developed beyond expectations. Caroline is concerned and asks Will where Caesar fits in all of this.

Will defends that his experiment will cure people like his father and give them back their lives. Caesar overhears their argument in the attic. He looks at himself in a mirror, bothered by the revelation about his existence. At breakfast the next day, Caesar refuses to eat. Charles uses his utensils backward, so Caesar helps, but Will and Caesar share worried looks. Upon testing his blood, Will discovers that Charles developed antibodies that reverse the cure.

Meanwhile, Charles wanders out and excitedly gets in Hunsiker's car. He starts the car but crashes it into the other cars. Hunsiker is livid and yells at Charles, who struggles to explain himself. Caesar watches them from the attic. Reaching a breaking point, Caesar rushes out, tackles Hunsiker to the ground, and beats him. Hunsiker runs, but Caesar jumps on him. Enraged, Caesar bites off Hunsiker's finger before Charles shouts for him to stop.

Caesar realizes what he's done and regretfully walks to Charles's arms as frightened neighbors watch. Because of this, Caesar is taken to a primate sanctuary run by John Langdon, his son, Dodge, and another caretaker, Rodney. Will expresses his concerns as Caesar has never been with other chimps, but Langdon assures him that Caesar will thrive in the place. Caesar is initially delighted with the bigger space, but quickly gets upset when he realizes that he'll be left there.

Caesar begs to return home, but all Will can do is assure Caesar that he'll come back soon. Caesar cries as Will walks away. When Will and Caroline leave, Dodge puts Caesar in a cage where he finds the other caged primates in distress. Later, Will tries but is unable to file an appeal for Caesar's release. Frustrated, he raises his voice to the clerk, who only tells him to wait and be thankful they didn't put Caesar down.

At home, Charles is saddened by Caesar's absence. While they're talking, Charles dazes off. Will discovers that the virus no longer affects Charles, and his Alzheimer's disease progresses rapidly. Unwilling to lose both Caesar and his father, Will is driven to advance the virus further. To convince Steven to continue his research, Will confesses that he used it on Charles with promising results.

Thinking it will be good business, Steven supports developing A.L.Z.-113, a gaseous variation of the previous virus. At the sanctuary, Caesar is mistreated and is fed slops. Disgusted, Caesar flicks the slops at Dodge, who retaliates by hosing him down. When Dodge leaves, Caesar cowers in his cage. Missing home, Caesar draws the attic window on a wall and leans on it. Apes arrive for Will's tests. For their first trial, Will chooses Koba, a chimp who understands how to ask for food.

During the procedure, Koba gets frantic and knocks off Franklin's mask, exposing him to the A.L.Z.-113. Meanwhile, at the sanctuary, Caesar joins the primates in the atrium. The alpha chimp, Rocket, displays his dominance by ripping Caesar's shirt and beating him to the ground. Caesar runs up a tree, but Rocket catches up, and Caesar falls. Before Rocket attacks again, Dodge tranquilizes them both.

At Gen-Sys, Steven is thrilled when he sees Koba writing Steven's last name. While they perform more tests on Koba, Franklin sneezes out blood. That night in his cage, an orangutan named Maurice checks on Caesar using sign language. When Caesar is surprised, Maurice explains that he was trained in a circus. They watch as another primate is dragged out to be delivered to Gen-Sys.

Maurice tells Caesar to be careful, as humans don't like smart apes. One day, Will and Caroline visit, and Caesar tells them he's hurt. Realizing who's responsible, Will shoves Dodge against a wall, but Langdon intervenes. Will tries to take Caesar back, but Langdon reminds him that he needs a court order. Caesar asks to be taken home again, but Will remorsefully tells him not yet and promises to get Caesar out.

Caesar cries out after them and feels betrayed. In his cage, Caesar erases the attic window, drawing on the wall. Once the apes are released to the atrium, Caesar perches on the tree. He notices a ladder going up near the skylight and a large gorilla named Buck, who, unlike the others, is never let out of his cage. Caesar peers through the skylight and takes in the city's skyline.

Later, Dodge brings his friends to the enclosure and runs a taser across the steel cages, agitating the apes. When one friend leans in too close, Caesar yanks him and steals a knife from his pocket. That night, Caesar uses the knife to open his cage. Maurice watches as Caesar makes his way out. Caesar opens Buck's cage and cautiously wakes him. Buck snarls at Caesar for interrupting his sleep until he sees that the door is open. Caesar coaxes him out, but Buck retreats.

Suddenly, Buck bursts out and roams the open space. Caesar watches him gallop around and bellow a deafening roar. Buck looks up at Caesar, grateful for his freedom. Caesar lets Rocket out next and challenges him. Caesar knocks him to the ground but spares him. Rocket sees Buck out of his cage, and all the other apes watch. Admitting defeat, he raises a palm and submits to the new alpha.

One night, Will tries to give Charles the A.L.Z.-113, but Charles refuses. Will resolves to hold his father's hand as they sleep. When Will wakes up, Charles has already passed away. While cleaning up after the funeral, Will finds a photo of him and Caesar. Seeing his remorse, Caroline advises him to accept that some things aren't meant to be changed. Will soon discover that Steven fast-tracked the trials to sell A.L.Z.-113 sooner.

Will warns about unknown side effects on humans, but Steven reminds him that he gave the experimental drug to his own father. Steven threatens his career over this, so Will quits. Meanwhile, Franklin's condition worsens, so he goes to Will's house for help, but no one is home. He encounters Hunsiker and sneezes blood on him. Later, Will bribes Langdon for Caesar's release. However, when he gets to Caesar, Caesar is still resentful and closes the cage, refusing to leave.

That night, Caesar makes Rocket distribute cookies to gain the others' trust. The following day, when the apes are in the atrium, Maurice asks why. Caesar explains that a single monkey is weak, but together, they are a force. Maurice only comments that monkeys are stupid. Caesar contemplates this and watches Rodney punch a code on the door lock. At night, he uses the code to slip out. He opens the skylight and travels back to Will's.

There, he sees Will and Caroline sleeping together. Caesar finds the A.L.Z.-113 and understands that it'll make the apes intelligent. Caesar takes it back to the sanctuary and uses it on the apes. The next day, Caesar examines the primates' green-flecked irises, confirming that they're now hyper-intelligent. Langon notices the animals gathered and standing upright, but dismisses them. Meanwhile, Franklin is found bloodied and lifeless on his bed.

Later, Caesar refuses to return to his cage and instigates a fight with Dodge. When Dodge calls him a dirty ape, Caesar shouts 'no!' and knocks Dodge unconscious. Then, he lets all the primates out. Rodney attempts to intervene but gets attacked. Caesar spares him since he never truly harmed them and cages him instead. Dodge wakes and grabs his taser, but Caesar hoses him down. The water diverts and amplifies the electricity on Dodge, killing him.

The apes bust out through the skylight and break into two groups led by Caesar and Buck. The following day, Will notices that Caesar's room was recently opened, so he calls the sanctuary, but no one answers. He and Caroline go to the sanctuary and find it wrecked. They discover Dodge's body, along with a punctured A.L.Z.-113 container. Caroline finds Rodney, who tells them that Caesar spoke.

In the suburbs, people are shocked as apes pass through the trees. Caesar's group reaches Gen-Sys and destroys the labs while freeing the imprisoned primates, including Koba. Steven receives a call about Franklin's demise due to the A.L.Z.-113. He walks inside the smashed-up lobby and sees the apes looking down. He gets out and flees on a chopper. At the zoo, people are excited that shy apes are out. Buck suddenly barrels down, and the people run in fear.

Buck wrecks the fence, freeing the apes from captivity. They take the broken railings as makeshift weapons and then catch up with the rest to storm the city. The primates rampage through the streets. An ape is captured by animal control, but Caesar and the others throw spears at the truck. Before the man drives away, they retrieve the captured ape. They wreak havoc, destroying offices and other establishments.

When police cars arrive, Maurice throws a drainage cover at them while Buck hurtles a streetlamp. Climbing on top of a cable car, Caesar and his gang look at the Golden Gate Bridge. The traffic jam on the bridge is met by the horde of apes. Will and Caroline spot them and figure that they're headed to the woods. Overhead, Steven and the officers watch as the primates move north. Waiting for them at the end of the bridge are officers preparing to shoot the apes.

Caesar sees men ahead and halts. He instructs some apes to climb up while others mobilize beneath the bridge. Caroline creates a distraction, allowing Will to slip through the police. Will is horrified by the battle between apes and humans. Caesar tackles an officer down, while Buck faces another one head-on. Before Buck could seriously hurt the man, Caesar orders him to stop, and Buck follows. One of the primates is shot by men in the chopper, angering Maurice.

Due to thick fog, the men cannot pinpoint the apes' location. Gorillas topple a bus and shield themselves. Apes on the bridge close in, and Caesar leads the attack. Apes above drop on the men while those underneath climb back up. Together, they overpower the humans. Will catches up and calls on Caesar. They share a knowing glance, but the chopper appears and opens fire. To protect Caesar, Buck jumps into the chopper and attacks.

The chopper crashes and explodes on the bridge. Caesar drags a dying Buck from the debris. Holding Caesar's hand, Buck dies. Steven shouts for help, but Caesar just glares at him and then leaves. Instead, Koba appears with bared teeth and kicks the chopper off the bridge. Steven screams on his way down. Will gets in a police car and follows the apes as they reach the forest. He calls out for Caesar, but Koba tackles him down. Caesar comes in time and sends Koba away.

Will apologizes and promises to protect Caesar if he comes home. Caesar pulls Will close and whispers that he is home. Will is shocked upon hearing Caesar speak, but he accepts it. Caesar walks back to the apes, now standing upright and regarding him as their leader. With Will's blessing, Caesar climbs up the treetops to once again look over the San Francisco skyline. Later, Hunsiker arrives at the airport.

He experiences a nosebleed at the airport and stops to wipe his nose. He continues to head for his flight, unaware of the virus that he now carries.

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