A "re-imagining" of the original classic that while entertaiing enbough will never be itself a similar classic. This one as well involved a bit of time traveling but this time to another planet entirely and some monkeying around with future history.

Action enough, and the apes really do act like apes (well, if they were to evolve that much), in fact the best acting hgere goes tro the guys in the ape costumes. The Humans just sort of stood around a lot- unfortunately that includes the lead pilot from Earth. Still, the action's good, though the plot is rather used and unoriginal (it is a re-make), the ape-acting well done, and the technology and technique behind it'smaking are very good. There's just one major complaint I have...

**** Warning, SPOILER ALERT begins Now***

At the very beginning the moment the words "temporal anomally" drifted from the screen into my forebrain I had mis-givings as time-traveling plots are nearly never done right. Turns out I was correct. The film should have ended when the guy took off from Ape-World in his small ship, but they just had to toss in one little twist. You can see it coming, and it's not only completely unnecessary but fits neither plot nor logic. Ape-world is left as all friendly, the big bad general defeated, but then we see he'd gotten back to Earth's history and changed it completely. I imagine Tim Burton sees that as one of those unexpected twists but all good plot twists still come from logic.

General Thade could only have gotten back in time if he'd gotten up into space and Ape-world had only two remaining craft; one under water and one crashed, thousands of years old, and beyond repair even if the one non-technological ape could do what the crew that came down with it could not do those many yrears ago; get it up into space without it breaking up on launch. Even assuming he did that, what would be left would never survive the buffeting through the space temporal storm, nor the rather messy crashsing landing he'd have back on Earth.

Surviving those series of multiple miracles, he'd still be one intelligent ape in Earth's past. No matter what epoch he'd land back in he'd still be out-numbered by a few million Humans with either guns, swords, or sheer numbers, all hunting him down as either a freak or demonic beast. He'd end up dead or in a zoo. Even if he could kill the first couple hgundred Humans, his kind would die out with him and old-age- nothing to breed with unless he ends up in Africa and has it on with the more unintelligent types but even then the numbers would still be well against him.

What about it being an alternate reality where the big space-ship would have crash landed instead in Earth's past with those handfull of intelligent monkeys? Still not a go; add to the above problems the fact that the Humans from the future could call upon whatever local tribe or nation of Humans to help them hunt down the vengeful monkeys.

In short, that ending is no twist but an ad hoc thing tacked on as a pretence of surprise with no real thought as to how or if it might have come about. If this sounds like a rant it is; too many script writers trying medeling in temporal plots (most of them working on Star Trek Voyager) they have not the mental power to think through the true ramifications of. This film should have ended with the little craft blasting away into space or staying with the Human tribes to help them re-build.

**** END SPOILER ALERT***

Complaints aside, this film does have it's good points and that lies it what happens between the beginning and end. They could have given the main male Human lead some more acting to do in the first hour (he just stays silent the first hour after he's gotten to ape-world then goes on a "okay, here's how we're fixing things up" charge), but watching those other actors aping it up was worth the matinee price in itself. Entertaining, almost qualifies for my Cheesey Scale, and while not great is not bad.