This reboot dispenses with actors in ape makeup and instead embraces newly groundbreaking motion-capture technology, all of which is explained in the disc’s extras — especially the role of the chimpanzee Caesar (above) as played by Andy Serkis, who was previously “seen” as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and the title character of 2005’s King Kong and is now appearing as Captain Haddock in The Adventures of Tintin. Meanwhile, the main human characters are played by James Franco, Freida Pinto, and John Lithgow in a tale that has a new Apes origin story stemming from the development of a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The film includes a number of sly references to previous Apes movies.
Video: 1080p, 2.35:1. Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Extras: two commentaries, one by director Rupert Wyatt, another by writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver; “Breaking Motion-Capture Barriers,” “The Genius of Andy Serkis,” and other featurettes; 11 deleted scenes; character concept-art gallery.
