It could have gone really wrong...

Rating: 8/10 (26 November 2011)

It could have gone really wrong... luckily a lot of things went just right. I'll be honest, I was ready to be disappointed (thinking Indiana jones, star wars and other franchise disappointments), I was pleasantly mistaken.
Franco manages to concoct sentences without dumbfounded pauses and makes faces that resemble some semblance of intelligence, or at least enough not to jeopardize the movie.
The CG chimps are more than passable and at times very believable. The filming, setting and plausibility of scenarios have all pistons firing.
The writing doesn't need to be spectacular, just enough to succeed. It was... well, just right. If you overwrite it, it hits the fan. If you underwrite it goes bust.
It keeps you interested, entertained, even at times heart warming, and ultimately satisfied - which has become a rare commodity with blockbusters.