Exceeds Expectations!

Rating: Null/10 (7 August 2011)

WOW. I just finished watching this movie and I have to say I was blown away.
I am 30 years old, and am a huge fan of the original series. I've seen them all many, many times.
After seeing the preview for this, I wanted to see it, but did not expect it to be more than an entertaining movie with apes smashing stuff up. I didn't expect it to hold a candle to the originals. I was dead wrong.
The Tim Burton remake doesn't deserve to carry the series' name IMO.
This movie was great from start to finish. The story is very well done, the acting is great, the characters are nicely done as well.
The special effects were amazing. I have NEVER seen a believable life- sized ape in a movie before that was done with CGI. I think King Kong was well done by Peter Jackson, but this was a life-sized ape interacting with it's environment, with other animals and apes, with humans, etc.
Andy Serkis and WETA both deserve much praise for this movie.
The scene where the ape goes nuts in the lab just blew me away and I was hooked from then on. If this doesn't win best special effects this year, it will be a travesty.
This movie deserved to carry the Planet of the Apes name in every way. I think most people who are a fan of the originals will agree. They mixed in a few "shout-outs" to the original series and most of them fit quite well. One or two felt a bit out of place, but not enough to take you away from this great movie.
I want to see it again, and almost paid to watch it immediately after finishing the first viewing.
9/10