This is how I felt. My buddy and I (we both loved the first one) thought this one was lacking something. I felt like it was a 2 hour trailer for a 3rd movie. Caesar's character development was the highlight though.
I agree.
Spoiler!
When he embraced the guy at the end and the guy said "I thought we had a chance" and Ceasar said "Me too" was pretty powerful for me.