History YMMV / RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes

** The movie can be seen as a cautionary tale of how wrong can genetic experimentation go due to both lack of safety precautions and overwhelming {{Greed}} that caused it.

* As of 2016, Buck getting shot to death has gotten some BlackComedy association with the death of Harambe, a gorilla in the Cincinnati Zoo that was shot in defense of a toddler that fell in his enclosure.

* ShockingMoment: [[YouCanTalk The first time Caesar speaks]]. Helped by the MoodWhiplash of it coming right after the MythologyGag to the [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968 1968]] film, it stunning human and ape into silence, and being a simple BigNo in defiance of his abuser.

* AccidentalAesop: The movie can be seen as a cautionary tale of how wrong can genetic experimentation go due to both lack of safety precautions and overwhelming {{Greed}} that caused it.

* EnsembleDarkHorse: Maurice the orangutan for both this and latter two films. A kindly orangutan who mentors Caesar and becomes his closest confidant in the sequels. Also notably averts the trend of evil orangutans from the previous films.

*** Following the moment, Koba attacks Will with hostile intent, but when Caesar orders that he stand down and leave this human alone, Koba, out of gratitude to Caesar freeing him and allowing him to kill his abuser, obeys this order, showing how quickly he came to respecting Caesar and how much he does. This is horribly tragic to revisit given that in the sequel, Koba goes from being like a brother to Caesar to [[TheStarscream attempting to kill him and take charge of all the apes himself]] to get them to go against Caesar's wishes and wage war on humankind.

* AccidentalAesop: The movie can be seen as a cautionary tale of genetic experimentation and how wrong can things go from lack of precaution.

** Koba killing Jacobs can also warrant a cathartic feeling for the latter being a CorruptCorporateExecutive.

** Koba killing Jacobs. In the context of this film, it's a triumph against an AssholeVictim oppressor. However, in the context of [[Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes the sequel]], it's Koba's first kill, and he happened to like the taste....Not to mention what we learn about his backstory in the “Dawn” prequel novel. Rewatching after reading that makes you see him more clearly.

** Jacobs crosses this for condoning the production of ALZ-113 despite its flaws out of {{Greed}} and nothing else. And when his previous actions come into light in the later installment Firestorm, including his deliberate torture of Koba out of spite it becomes realized that his actions in the film are only the tip of the iceberg.

* AccidentalAesop: Any method humanity tries to solve something needs safety precautions to be followed. Otherwise, it may just become an even bigger problem.

** For his unjust actions against Ceasar and the Rodmans during most of his screen time, seeing Hunsiker getting his butt handed to him is very satisfying.

* LoveToHate: Dodge is an unsavory saditistic bully towards the apes in the animal shelter, but is grotesquely entertaining with Creator/TomFelton's EvilIsHammy approach and his liners peppered with MythologyGag nods to the star of the original 1968 film Creator/CharltonHeston.

** If he hasn't crosses this by trying to attack Caesar with a bat when he was a baby ape despite him being neutralised as a potential threat to his kids, Hunsiker absolutely crosses this when he [[BullyingTheDisabled inconsiderately confronts the dementia-stricken Charles Rodman]] for damages to his car and mercilessly tried to call the police on him and later tried to intervene by confronting ALZ-113-afflicted Franklin for trespassing onto a private property in a neighborhood he lives in and ordering him to get out of the said neighborhood after Franklin accidentally sneezes on him, infecting him. While Hunsiker's a ButtMonkey in the majority of his screen time, he's actually a cathartic ButtMonkey for his completely undeserved IrrationalHatred of his neighbors the Rodmans.

** Jacobs crosses this for condoning the production of ALZ-113 despite its flaws out of {{Greed}} and nothing else. And when his previous actions come into light in the later installment Firestorm, including his deliberate torture of Koba out of spite it becomes realised that his actions in the film are only the tip of the iceberg.

* IdiotPlot: Let's face it, ''nothing'' in this movie could have happened if it weren't for the vast majority of the human characters acting like complete idiots.
-->'''Creator/RogerEbert''': The movie has its pleasures, although human intelligence is not one of them.

** For his unjust actions against Ceasar and the Rodmans during most of his screen time, seeing Hunsiker getting his butt handed to is very satisfying.

* UncannyValley:

* WhatAnIdiot: After Franklin was exposed to ALZ-113, in full view of multiple people including the scientists boss Jacobs, he apparently wasn't admitted to a hospital or at least quarantined. The company just let him go home, where he remained sick for two days after his exposure. This complete lack of oversight is what leads to [[spoiler: the almost immediate destruction of mankind in the next film.]]