Surprise of the Planet of the Apes

Rating: 9/10 (21 February 2012)

My bias...
Loves: Exceeded expectations Likes: James Franco Dislikes: CGI Hates: Planet of the Apes by Tim Burton
I'll preface my review by saying that I have not seen any of the older Apes movies, but have seen the Tim Burton movie (which I cannot remember a thing from, but I do remember that I hated it). That being said, I missed this in theaters because I had no attachments to the Apes franchise and the first trailer released looked awful.
I wish that I had caught this on the big screen. I loved every minute of this movie. The story was strong enough that I was able to ignore the (at times) poor CGI and got attached to Caesar as a non-human protagonist. The only problem I had with this film was the fact that, during the start of the film,around 8 years supposedly passes and no one ages or becomes any different in their motivations, personality, or hairstyles.
The human acting is serviceable and the action, while used sparingly, is done well. The setup of the final battle scene is excellent.
All in all, I loved this movie. It didn't do much with the humans, but I was instantly attached to Caesar. I welcome our new primate overlords with open arms.
Score: 9/10