It's smart, fun and emotionally complex.

Not necessarily what you might expect from a movie with digital characters and simian suits.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes smashes into theatres this week, starring Gary Oldman, Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke and Keri Russell.

But don't expect just any old gorilla suits. Dawn uses groundbreaking visual effects to bring its primate characters to life.

According to CBC film critic Eli Glasner, these convincing beasts take us into a world we've never seen before.

Watch Eli's review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in the video above.