Monkey business is good business for the box office

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is emotional, epic and engrossing, and well worth the ticket price. What’s more, the story is so good you don’t really have to see it in 3D.

While it does have the requisite amount of spectacle for a summer movie, it’s about so much more that just the visuals. There’s a real, honest-to-goodness, emotionally wrenching aspect to the film, especially in a callback to the previous installment that happens about halfway in.

It made big bucks over the weekend, so it’s a rare example of critics and audience agreeing on a smart summer movie with substance.

The next installment is already in the works, and you can consider me already in line.