Don't expect too much, but better than most

Rating: 7/10 (27 November 2011)

As a joke, I wanted to start this review by saying it is about the horrors of turning real live chimps into CGI, but as I was watching the film I started to get into the mood and understand what it was about. Fortunately, it was a rather good story with very good rendering, but unfortunately it doesn't even begin to approach the level of social commentary that the original movies had. As such, I would say it's a better than average sci-fi movie, but a less than average Planet of the Apes.
To put it bluntly, the apes get smart, they start to resent their treatment at the hands of humans and they react. How? Violently! Hulk smash style. Yes, we can now create the level of CGI that shows hordes of apes moving across the Golden Gate bridge, but then we succumb to the ease of transforming it all into a mindless battle for dominance.
If there is something to be taken from this film, it is the way emotions were conveyed from a purely apish perspective. Even if sometimes the apes were made to look and act way too human, most of the time one could expect stuff like that from real animals. I think this is relevant, I think this shows the level of emotional manipulation in Hollywood movies today goes far lower than "the common denominator", down to the ape in us. And we enjoy it.
Bottom line: a block buster that tries to cash in on an idea that most people in the audience aren't even familiar with and a far cry from Carlton Heston's films, but better than most of the crap this year has to offer. Expect nothing spectacular and you will probably enjoy it.