Close To Being Really Good But No Cigar...

This film had some really good concepts and at least didn't just try to be a beat for beat remake of the original with improved visual effects.

The reveal that the apes and the humans are the descendants of his crashed ship was a decent spin on the Statue of Liberty from the original.

Thade was an excellent villain. Bonham Carter's character was alright.

The early village part with the analogous discussion around humans place in society was interesting.

Even the much hated ending could have been brilliant had it not been so specific - if he'd just landed and found himself in an advanced ape society (as per the book) which wasn't an exact replica of contemporary Earth but with apes replacing humans, it could have been brilliant. They could have even have kept him coming across a Thade statue, just not an revision of the Lincoln statue.

The side kick humans were terrible and probably the main problem in this film. Given that none of them had any real personality or did anything of consequence - the bald guy, the Estella Warren character, the kid - they may as well have been muted, which again would have improved things.

Re-watching it, I didn't find it to be terrible but more of a lost opportunity - A couple of improvements in key areas and a sequel to this would have been a certainty and an interesting addition to the series.