Weekend Movie Trailers and Reviews: 'The Change-Up' and 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes.'

The biggest summer blockbusters may be behind us, but that doesn't mean there aren't still some big-name flicks hitting theaters. Take this weekend, for example, which offers us another sci-fi actioner in a long-running franchise, and another R-rated comedy with big stars attached.

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

We've seen a couple of different versions of what happens in the future, after we "blew it up" and the apes took over. Whether you're a fan of the Charlton Heston original or the Mark Wahlberg remake (just kidding, nobody's a fan of that one), you might have been wondering exactly how all of this simian superiority business started.

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" aims to answer that question, serving as a prequel to the "Planet of the Apes" movie of your choice. The film stars James Franco as a researcher who develops a formula to repair human brains that, when tested on a chimp named Caesar, causes rapid development of higher brain function. That's bad news for us, seeing as the only real advantage we have over the apes is that we're smarter...and maybe a little less hairy.

Franco is backed up by a talented cast, including John Lithgow and "Slumdog Millionaire" star Freida Pinto. Also notable is the motion-capture work of Andy Serkis, who is famous for his work in the field (most notably Gollum of "Lord of the Rings") and made the movements for our starring chimp.

Rotten Tomatoes has "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" at a solid 80% among critics with an 87% positive audience reaction. That makes it the best-reviewed movie in the franchise since the 1968 original, thanks to a strong performance by Serkis and some spectacular special effects.

See it if: You're a member of PETA and you want to see the apes get those nasty animal-testing researchers once and for all!

The Change-Up

Even the stars of "The Change-Up," Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds, will admit that the premise of the movie has been done before. A lot, actually. Body-switching is one of the more frequently-used "magic" gimmicks in movie history (in one form or another), but there's one factor in "The Change-Up" that sets it apart. That is, it's the first R-rated body-switching movie.

And it probably couldn't have come at a better time: R-rated films have been on fire this summer, what with the successes of "The Hangover: Part 2," "Bridesmaids," and "Horrible Bosses." It remains to be seen whether "The Change-Up" will follow in their footsteps, but the chances are better that it will make a profit now than likely any other time.

However, Rotten Tomatoes has "The Change-Up" at just 20% among critics with a 67% positive audience reaction. The concept is still a bit tired, and the R rating only seems to provide more poop jokes than adult humor. However, it's still fun to watch the very funny Bateman and Reynolds play each other, against their own type.

See it if: You don't mind a bit of crap, both literally and figuratively, in your comedies.