RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Starring: James Franco, John Lithgow, Andy Serkis. Dir: Robert Wyatt.

Occasionally a summer blockbuster comes along that absolutely nails it, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes does exactly that.

Fans of the old series of Planet of the Apes films will notice that this rather departs from the original timeline, eliding at least two films into this one and hastening the demise of the human race with a subtle nod at the close. But the staggering advances in motion capture technology and the savvy script make this possibly the best of the bunch so far.

The story takes a fairly straightforward route: a new drug to help Alzheimer's Disease is tested on a young chimpanzee called Caesar.

Not tested exactly legally either, since the programme has been shut down after violent problems.

Eventually, after being maltreated by the nasty kid from Harry Potter, Caesar escapes to lead a revolution.

Yep, we all know basically what's going to happen, but what makes this work is the finely-judged screenplay, affecting performances by Franco and Lithgow as Caesar's kindly minders, and those jaw-dropping effects.

The filmmakers get it all right and it's a pleasure to watch.

The problem with superheroes is the every new one has to be introduced with an origin story. (Why? James Bond and Indiana Jones didn't.) It tends to get a little repetitive. And next year we have to go through the Superman and Spiderman origin episodes all over again. Already? Twice in a decade seems excessive...

This week there are two more, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Green Lantern , each very different but both basically the same story of a flawed hero transformed by scientific experiment / alien ring into a fighter against evil. The former may have been a box office hit and the latter a complete wash-out but both do the job adequately.

Captain America has a well-rendered 1940s setting and a classy support cast (Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Hugo Weaving); Green Lantern is set in an extravagant universe with purple-headed aliens (and has cameos by Temuera Morrison and Taika Waititi!).

Taking the leads, Ryan Reynolds and Chris Evans both have likeable all-American looks and attitudes, and overall I wouldn't pick one film over the other. Green Lantern is probably a bit sillier – for better or worse – and is a little sloppy with its supporting characters, while Captain America's arrival at least means we can now get on with that big Avengers hook-up.

(One thing: if you watch Green Lantern, skip the extended version, which makes a long film into a tedious one, adding nothing but repetition.)

After being so impressed with Cars 2 a couple of weeks back I thought I'd try the other big recent animation release, but Kung Fu Panda 2 didn't pop my cork in the same way. There's nothing particularly wrong with it and, while Jack Black's shtick is wearing a little thin for me, kids'll probably dig it. I found it all a bit simplistic. Smaller viewers will no doubt love the animal heroes but for me the best feature is the animation's incorporation of a wide range of Chinese art styles – it's a real treat for the eyes.

Nine Miles Down is basically a two-hander, starting with a security guard arriving at a remote Sahara research station. The researchers are all gone, and there are bodies and one woman, a survivor who claims to be part of the scientific team. She reveals the troubling discoveries made during the deep drilling but her story is inconsistent and a psychological and physical battle ensues. Is she the devil? Is he crazy? What exactly is under the ground? Some questions are answered, some – frustratingly – aren't, but it is an impressive exercise in sustained tension from director Anthony Waller.