为了能让身患老年痴呆症的父亲重回正常的生活,威尔·罗曼(詹姆斯·弗兰科 James Franco 饰)一直致力于名为“Cure”的基因药物的开发,并在大猩猩身上不断进行着药物试验。在公司已经失去信心的同时,威尔继续在家完成试验,并在一只名为凯撒的大猩猩身上获得成功。借助灵长类学家卡洛琳(芙蕾达·平托 Freida Pinto 饰)的帮助,威尔发现凯撒的智力极大地提高。不过,人类的社会始终无法接受拥有极高智力的凯撒,凯撒被送往了猩猩看护所。看护所的残酷对待,使得凯撒利用智慧进行抗争,最终救走了同时被囚禁的其他猩猩,而且对它们都使用了Cure。一群高智商的猩猩与人类对立的战争就此拉开。本片获得了第84届奥斯卡最佳视觉效果的提名。At the story's heart is Caesar (Andy Serkis), a chimpanzee who gains human-like intelligence and emotions from an experimental drug. Raised like a child by the drug's creator, Will Rodman (James Franco) and a primatologist Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto), Caesar ultimately finds himself taken from the humans he loves and imprisoned in an ape sanctuary in San Bruno. Seeking justice for his fellow inmates, Caesar gives the fellow apes the same drug that he inherited. He then assembles a simian army and escapes the sanctuary - putting man and ape on a collision course that could change the planet forever.