Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
   Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Released 7/11/14

In 2011, a new addition to the Planet of the Apes saga was introduced.  Not only was it a new chapter, it was also felt like a reboot of the franchise itself.  Some old school POTA fans I know were not very pleased by the idea of a reboot thinking you can't improve on a sci-fi classic.  Tim Burton sure didn't inspire anyone with his rendition (although I'm one of the few who actually liked it).  Not being a huge fan of the original or the sequels it spawned, I went into the theater with a more open mind about Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but still felt a little "meh" about the whole thing.  And, I got one of the biggest shocks of my moviegoing life as ROTPTA made me care about the franchise for the first time.  It made me want more.  So, this time, it was with a great deal of excitement when I made my journey to see this week's sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  But could the sequel really capture the magic of Rise?  Most fall well short of their original source material.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is one of the rare sequels that successfully and logically continues the narrative from its predecessor.  DOTPOTA picks up 10 years after Rise.  Super smart chimpanzee, Caesar, leads a large community of apes in the woods of ruined San Francisco.  They are thriving in an apocalyptic world following their own moral code of "ape not killing ape" and living in relative peace (or so Caesar believes).

Humans on the other hand have not fared nearly as well.  In total disarray after the viral epidemic that began at the end of Rise, packs of human survivors are scattered across the globe.  One such group has created a settlement within the San Francisco ruins.  But, quickly running low on fuel stores, they need an alternate power source to generate the electrical power they so desperately need.  The dam in ape territory would fit the bill nicely.

When a small scouting group from the settlement travels into the woods to look for the new power source, they are  discovered by two young chimps.  Thus, both ape and human become aware of each other's presence within the region for the first time.  At first reluctant to assist the humans and become involved in their problems, Caesar consents to assist the small party to avoid conflict.  But, there are factions within both the ape and human communities that distrust each other so much that war will become inevitable despite Caesar's wishes. 

Dawn is not quite as heartfelt has Rise was, but it feels like a logical progression from that film.  In Rise, Caesar learned the treachery of humans.  In Dawn, he learns the treachery of his own kind.  By the end, with his resignation to the imminence of war between ape and human, it will be interesting to see the direction his character is taken in future sequels (which I'm sure are coming).  He doesn't hate humans, and he knows that some are as opposed to conflict as he is.  But, depending on the direction the story is taken, he will have to become more of a dictator in the future to fit an ape conquering of the planet.

Even if these two films and upcoming films chronicle events leading up to the original, I applaud the efforts of fleshing out the story.  Although my hope is the powers that be take the story in a different direction because the original never made much sense to me.  I know it's classic sci-fi, but that's always been my opinion.  Another thing I'm grateful for is the focus of this series on the ape community itself and the society they've built.  It's not based on a pseudo-ape religion, but on the natural survival of the species.  It all feels much more organic this time.

Dawn continues the excellent CGI work that was introduced in Rise.  The apes are still very much apes with a few human qualities (many in Caesar's case) as opposed to human actors clearly wearing make-up.  The latter was good for its time, but would definitely not work today.  Andy Serkis deserves special consideration for his motion-capture work for Caesar.  He puts so much emotion in the ape's facial expressions that it's uncanny.  I guess I should expect no less from the actor who did the same for Golem, right?

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes hits all the right notes for a sequel and is everything you would expect from a follow up to a great film.  It's visually stunning and has intelligence to boot.  I wouldn't necessarily say it's the greatest sequel ever made as that honor still goes to The Empire Strikes Back in my eyes. But, Dawn is in the team photo of one of the better ones that have been produced.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

****1/2 stars


Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.