Definitely not your father's version of "Planet of the Apes"....

Rating: Null/10 (11 August 2011)

...and that's not a bad thing.
I haven't watched all the original "Apes" movies, but I enjoyed the ones I did see as pure sci-fi camp and fun with actors in hokey rubber masks.
This is definitely a different take on how the original franchise might have began, and it's amazing not only just how far CGI effects have come in recent years, but how potent an emotional punch that the technique can pull off if used the right way. I don't think I've ever had a motion-capture character ever get to me the way Ceasar did, and this is from someone who's had little faith in the technology outside of most of Pixar's stuff.
The cast does a wonderful job; James Franco is excellent as a scientist who is torn between helping his company discover a potential cure for a debilitating disease and protecting a test subject who becomes a part of his family. John Lithgow proves that he can do drama every bit as well as he can do comedy (but then, I'm probably one of the few people on these boards old enough to remember his stern but credible performance as a preacher and concerned father in the original "Footloose").
Be warned, though: there's no camp factor, here - this movie is NOT typical light and fluffy summer fare. It is somber, it is unsettling, and there are depictions of animal cruelty that will potentially upset small children, so if they're easily spooked, send them in to see the newest "Winnie the Pooh" movie instead (which, from what I've heard from other parents and some kids, is actually quite a heartwarming film).
Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver deserve serious props for the writing on this. It takes a lot to make me buy into a reboot film, and even more to make me HOPE that there will be sequels - and this one does.
Quite possibly one of the best films of the 2011 summer season.