Very good re-telling

Rating: 7/10 (9 May 2014)

After watching the (disappointing) trailer #2 for "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes", I felt like watching the first part again:
Second watch. Very good stuff. It really balances well a story that is both moving and tells the story of the Planet of the Apes in a (sort-of) realistic way and well prepares the ground for the sequels, with lots of references to the original movie and clues to what is coming in the next movies (there is already a third movie planned).
Good writing (the writers also wrote the coming sequel), excellent score by Patrick Doyle, very good CGI (although not perfect - watching it on HD reveals some of the flaws), good direction and very good performance by the cast - especially John Lithgow and Andy Serkis. James Franco is also OK in his part. And only now when watching the credits I see Brian Cox - didn't even recognize him.
The earlier scenes with Caesar and Lithgow's character really moved me, so good job on that too.
The last scene really had a "Twelve Monkeys" vibe.
I always thought the sequels to the original movie absolutely destroyed everything that was good about it (the original movie) and that they made no sense and were pointless: The story in the sequels, of "apes getting smarter" and "apes revolting" felt to me like a bad writing as an excuse for bad sequels; I always thought that "We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!" was clear that the humans destroyed Earth by an atomic warfare and thus it was NEVER a story about apes rising against humans and taking the world from them. Therefore, the idea of re-telling the story again, this time in "chronological" order, can only make sense to someone who hasn't seen the original movie. Still, I let go of what I think of the original series and its sequels and chose to enjoy this movie as it is. And enjoy it I did.
Last time I gave it a 6/10, this time -
6.5/10 Very good
A few words about the sequel, which comes out in two months from writing this review: Can't say the second trailer looks promising. They also changed the director, but at least they kept the writers, so I don't lose hope just yet. I have to say that the trailer to "Rise" didn't look promising either and I was pleasantly surprised. I'll wait and see.