Leading up to the films August 5 release I expect to have a pretty heavy debate in regards to Twentieth Century Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the Rupert Wyatt-directed prequel to Tim Burton’s remake that stars James Franco, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis, Brian Cox, and Tom Felton.

I’ve seen some serious online hate in regards to the trailers released (watch the second one inside), yet I think everything put on display looks absolutely incredible. Typically I’d be skeptical – Fox has punked us hundreds of times over the past decade – but X-Men: First Class has given me a sense of rejuvenated hope.

Adding more fuel to the pro-column are the newly release images that show just how far our CGI has come. Oscar-winning visual effects house WETA Digital will render, for the first time ever in the film series, photo-realistic apes rather than costumed actors. Take a good look at the below image of Caesar (hi-res available in image gallery) and gaze into his eyes; it appears to me that we’ve passed the “dead eyes” epidemic of the ’90s and ’00s. No? I’m out-of-my-mind impressed.

“An origin story in the true sense of the word, ‘Rise’ is set in present day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale — a science fiction/science-fact blend where mankind’s hubris leads to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.”