rise of the apes

Plot:
Will Rodman (James Franco) is a scientist at biotechnology company Gen-Sys who has been trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease and is testing a new gene therapy drug on chimpanzees. The drug, a modified virus, mutates the chimpanzees, giving them a human level of intelligence. A female chimp who believes her baby is being threatened goes on a rampage and is shot by security guards. Will's boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) subsequently orders chimp handler Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine) to euthanize the remaining test chimpanzees. Franklin cannot bring himself to kill the baby chimp and instead gives him to Will, who takes him home to raise.

Will's father Charles (John Lithgow), who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, names the baby chimp "Caesar". Caesar (Andy Serkis) has inherited his mother's high intelligence and develops quickly. One day, after he frightens the children of their neighbor, Hunsiker (David Hewlett), and receives a cut on his leg, Will takes him to the San Francisco Zoo where primatologist Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto) treats his injury. Will begins to take Caesar on excursions to the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument, but after an encounter with a family's German shepherd, Caesar begins to resent his status as a human "pet". When Caesar questions his identity, Will tells him that his mother and eleven other chimps were given "medicine" and that the reason for his intelligence is that the drug affected him while still in the womb. Caesar becomes more aware of his biological identity and begins to view himself as different from his human family.

A desperate Will tests a sample of his cure on his father. At first, his father's condition improves, but eventually his immune system fights off the virus and his dementia returns. Confused, he attempts to drive Hunsiker's car, thinking it is his own, and damages it, causing Hunsiker to lose his temper. Caesar witnesses the confrontation and attacks Hunsiker. He is subsequently removed from Will's house by authorities and held in the San Bruno Primate Shelter run by John Landon (Brian Cox), where he is treated cruelly by the other apes and the chief guard, Landon's son Dodge (Tom Felton). Caesar escapes from his cell and frees a gorilla kept in solitary confinement. With the gorilla's assistance, Caesar gains dominance over the other apes by beating the sanctuary's alpha chimp.

Will creates a more powerful form of the virus to resume treating his father, and Jacobs clears its testing on chimpanzees, which further increases their intelligence. However, unbeknownst to the scientists, it is fatal to humans. Franklin is exposed to the new virus and begins sneezing blood. Attempting to contact Will at his home, he accidentally infects Hunsiker, and is later discovered dead in his apartment. Will attempts to warn Jacobs against further testing but when Jacobs refuses to listen, Will quits his job.

After Charles' death, Will bribes the elder Landon into releasing Caesar into his custody, but Caesar refuses to leave. He later escapes from the ape facility on his own and returns to Will's house, where he steals canisters of the new virus and releases it throughout the cage area at the facility, enhancing the intelligence of his fellow apes. The apes put an escape plan into motion. Dodge attempts to intervene, leading to a fight with Caesar. Caesar displays the ability to talk by shouting "No!" at Dodge, and later kills him through electrocution. The liberated apes storm the city and release the remaining apes from Gen-Sys, as well as the entire ape population from a zoo.

The apes force their way past a CHP blockade on the Golden Gate Bridge and escape into the redwood forest after killing Jacobs. Will arrives and warns Caesar that the humans will hunt them down, and begs him to return home. Caesar tells Will that he "is home" among his fellow apes. The final image shows the apes climbing to the tops of the redwood trees, looking out over the San Francisco Bay.

In the post-credits scene, Hunsiker, an airline pilot, arrives at work, suffering from the virus. The camera pans to a filled flight-status display board, then fades into a stylized flight map animated with blooming trajectories implying the worldwide spread of a global pandemic.