Ape versus human – and hawk versus dove. These are the confrontations offered up by this exciting and stylish new film in the Planet of the Apes prequel franchise. It's great summer blockbuster entertainment with an intriguing brochimpmance between the noble ape Caesar and a liberal human called Malcolm. The hyper-evolved apes are holed up in a forest near San Francisco living hunter-gatherer apey lives, increasing their grunted English vocabulary and generally minding their own business. Things go bad when they encounter the last human holdouts in this post-apocalyptic world: a nervy survivalist community led by Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) whose instinct is to get tough with the monkeys: but Malcolm (Jason Clarke) wants to reach out and generally make nice with the apes.

As for the apes, they are led by charismatic Caesar, played in motion-capture by Andy Serkis, who himself is minded towards diplomacy. But Caesar's duplicitous lieutenant Koba, motion-captured by Toby Kebbell, wants all-out war. Caesar's name (given to him by his human masters in the previous film) connotes power, nobility and vulnerability to betrayal; screenwriters Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver may want us to remember that Koba was Stalin's nickname, although Koba is more like Jeremy Irons's ferocious Scar in The Lion King.

As in the last film, the CGI apes are very impressive, with next-level mannerisms in swaying, screeching, lunging and teeth-baring; Serkis's Caesar is a very watchable digital-chimp, his face set in an asymmetric grimace-scowl, rather like Douglas MacArthur. The huge battle setpieces have a bizarre and mesmeric quality. As to where it is all leading … well, Apes fans will be agog to know how a certain New York statue is holding up, and whether this film can in narrative terms do anything other than mark time. (The death of a certain character sneakily leaves open a comeback possibility.) It's very enjoyable stuff.