Not just another monkey movie!

Rating: 7/10 (7 August 2011)

After the trailer piqued my interest I was expecting quite a different plot to the original "Apes", and now it's over I can say I was not disappointed.
In the original story humans travel though space to a planet inhabited by intelligent monkeys. This plot was fine for schoolboy comics but it really required a leap of faith for the cinema goers. The latest tale gives a more plausible (though still quite ridiculous) explanation for the monkeys' rise to master their own destiny: Their intelligence was boosted accidentally by medication.
OK, it sounds a bit lame but the film is actually very good on many levels. The stars (monkeys) all have personalities, even without the ability to speak. There are many scenes where I felt genuinely bad about the way they were treated. The modern digital imaging is just incredible - I really couldn't tell what I was watching was computer generated, and the expressions on their faces are better acted than their supporting human cast!
The story starts off slowly but even then it's never boring. Things really get rolling about halfway though, and it's an action movie after all....so the climax comes with plenty of thrills as the alpha males (human and ape) contend for dominance in a shoot out like you have never seen before.
Although this wasn't the most rip-roaring movie I have seen this year, it was by far the most original. Full marks for the plot, and high marks for the testosterone (you could almost smell it)! Loved it. If you are a big kid, go watch it, you'll love it too. If you liked Tree of Life then I am afraid this is not one for you!