Rise of the Planet of the Apes (SPOILERS?)

This poster is horrible.

       So let me preface this by saying I wasn't really planning on seeing this film, not in the theater at least. But a group of us were going and the options became The Change-Up (for some goddamn reason) and this, so there you are. To be fair though I think putting James Franco next to anything will make it look like a genius. HOWEVER, Andy Serkis did the motion capture for Caesar so there's that.
       Which is not to suggest that I went in determined to hate this movie. I think after that Mark Wahlberg mess one can only improve. There seemed to be some unnecessary plot holes, for example the increased intelligence of most of the apes was explained but there was one scene where they storm the zoo and the zoo chimps, with whom this is first contact by the lab chimps, inexplicably gain an understanding of spear usage and military formation tactics. It was such a pointless plot hole, and seemed to only exist out of laziness. I also wondered about the speech that started happening about an hour in. I get that the increased cognitive abilities could lead to an understanding of complex language, but would the vocal chords still be able to form words as perfectly as Caesar does by the end of the movie? I don't think so, but I may actually be incorrect. I'd be interested to find out if anyone has any clue.
       The film also had a lot of nods to the originals, some good, like the newspaper articles about the space crew that would return some 2000 years later. There were a lot of lines from the first one used which, while initially mildly clever, eventually became tired and annoying.

So, here's the break down:
Good Things:

• Andy Serkis
• The first 30 minutes of the film.
• Someone is maimed by a gorilla as the helicopter they're in crashes.

Bad Things:

• Pointless plot holes
• Tom Felton's horrendous American accent
• Use of the line "Get your paws off me you damn dirty apes!" (yes, yes you CAN make a PotA movie without that line)
• Everything else

NOTE: To be fair, we probably do a great deal more bad British accents than they do American ones. But still, Malfoy is a dick.