All 9 Planet of the Apes movies ranked from worst to best

3. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

An entry that is the highlight of the reboot franchise, creating a reason for the intelligence of Apes and the decline of humanity. One of the only films in the reboot franchise with any kind of social commentary, touching on the greed of Big Pharma, putting the almighty dollar in front of actual research and development for something that could be an advancement for humanity.

Andy Serkis amazes as usual as Caesar, the son of an ape that they were testing a drug on, that gained its mother’s intelligence in utero. Such a strong entry in the reboot franchise, probably the strongest of the three. Establishing a new franchise while still finding a way to pay homage to the original franchise by having a spacecraft lost in space, calling an Ape “Bright Eyes” and treating the films that came before it with the reverence and respect that it so richly deserves.

James Franco and John Lithgow put on really amazing performances as a father and son, the latter of which is trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, especially since his father is suffering from a rather advanced case of it. While Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes are great films, they just don’t seem to have the same kind of hit that Rise of the Planet of the Apes does.