If this is the Planet Of The Apes revival we had to have, it could be a lot worse. This reboot is a story of origins, of primate revolt against human exploitation, in which James Franco plays Will Rodman, a San Francisco gene technology scientist who unwittingly sets things in motion.

He rescues a hapless baby chimp from a drug trial gone wrong, and takes him home. Caesar - as he's named by Will's ailing father (John Lithgow) - grows up agile, smart and communicative, and apparently a part of the family.

     
But Caesar - who's impressively incarnated, via motion capture, by Andy ''Gollum'' Serkis - soon learns that he's more disposable than he realises. An episode of violence leads him to be removed from Will's care and taken to an animal pound that seems to specialise in apes. It presents itself as a sanctuary, but it's more like a prison camp. Caged and tormented, feeling abandoned by Will, Caesar is gradually transformed from an isolated outsider to leader of his fellow inmates. A breakout is inevitable; retribution is on the cards.

Directed by Rupert Wyatt - who made the sharp prison-break movie The Escapist - Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is not quite the laborious franchise-starter its title suggests. Its human characters are ciphers, even if the actors include Franco, Lithgow, Brian Cox and Freida Pinto, but its animal rebels are utterly convincing.

Planet of the Apes started screening in cinemas across Vietnam on the 19th August, so you can go take a peek anytime. Log onto Megastar or Galaxy to check out session times.

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