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Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Rated PG-13 for intense and frightening sequences of action and violence) is a thriller that applies the defibrillation paddles on the moribund “Planet of the Apes” franchise. It stars James Franco, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto and Andy Serkis.

In a time honored cliché, a well-meaning scientist (Franco) bent on curing his father (Lithgow) of Alzheimer’s disease breaks experimental protocols, resulting in the birth and development of an incredibly advanced Chimpanzee (Serkis) named Caesar. Caesar leads a large troop of apes in a revolt against their human oppressors in an attempt to find a society where he truly belongs.

This film is steeped in cliché. The man in charge is only interested in making money. The guards are sadistic. (Did we have to have a scene where the guard brings a guy and two lady friends into the ape compound to impress them? Really?) The neighbor is an unreasonable jerk. Frieda Pinto’s role as “the girlfriend veterinarian” is apparently there for no other reason than to provide an attractive female character to look at.

The list of thinly drawn clichéd characters is virtually endless.

Of course, the original 1968 film was made more poignant due to its thinly veiled social commentary in times of the Civil Rights movement and the ever present threat of nuclear destruction. This modern version strives to make points about genetic experiments, but that theme is lost to the special effects wizardry of the apes and has been played out too many times in other films to make a dent in the social consciousness of the viewer.

But the movie succeeds in the one area that is absolutely crucial.

It’s a difficult task to get a human audience to pull for the apes and root against the humans. To do that the filmmakers have to keep the apes from harming innocent humans and must paint the humans that do get hurt as despicable—which explains to some degree the clichéd bad guys.

And most importantly, the filmmakers must humanize the apes and have them take on those human qualities we most admire. This film does that in spades. Andy Serkis, teamed with computer generated effects, manages to make Caesar a very realistic primate, evolving before our eyes, with human emotions and sensibilities.

If you in any way enjoyed the apes in the previous films you’re sure to enjoy them in this work.

The Debt (Rated R for some violence and language) is a thriller based on the 2007 Israeli film of the same name. It stars Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Chastain.

In the early 1960’s three young members of the Israeli Mossad, two men and a woman, are sent to East Berlin to kidnap and return for trial a notorious NAZI war criminal guilty of performing horrifying medical procedures on Jewish war camp inmates.

Now in the late 1990’s the three have enjoyed decades of being national heroes. One of them, Rachel (Mirren), has a journalist daughter who has written a book about her mother’s heroics and its release is bringing up lots of old memories.

Like how she got that nasty scar on her cheek.

But something’s amiss. Why on Earth did that sad looking man just commit suicide rather than going along with those young looking men from the Israeli government? Why would the author’s father provide most of the material for the book and the daughter be the only journalist Rachel wouldn’t talk to about the affair?

To answer those questions and more, the story flips deftly between the 1960’s and the 1990’s leaving cliff hanger after cliff hanger and dropping one “reveal” after another as the mystery unwinds.

We all know that complicated plans often go awry. In fact, if everything went according to plan it’d be a boring story. So, what makes the story interesting is how the characters react when things go wrong. Will they panic? Will they find solutions?

And who would’ve thought a love triangle would develop between the three Mossad agents? (Well, okay, all of us, but we’d all be disappointed if that didn’t happen, wouldn’t we?)

What makes this particular thriller unique is that it explores the long term ramifications of the adventure on the characters. What costs do duty to country and family extract from us? What obligations do we have to them? To truth and justice?

You can always rely on a cast with Mirren and Wilkinson to deliver captivating performances and in this case they’re matched with a terrific script and skilled filmmaking. There are a few nitpicking actions that ring a little false, but they can be easily overlooked because the product as a whole is excellent. Enjoy.