Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Review

When reviewing movies, you always have to be aware of the idea of “spoilers”.  While the whole “spoiler” notion had gotten way out of hand, most of us would prefer to learn the major plot events the way the creators intended, through experiencing it first.  However, sometimes the “spoiler” is right there in the title, as has been the case with Rise of The Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, its new sequel.  Regardless of how one may end, ultimately the series is going to end with the humans losing big and the apes taking control.  So ultimately the answers we look for with these sequels isn’t “what” so much as “how” and as both ROTPOTA and DOTPOTA prove, it is all about the presentation that makes it an entertaining ride.

The film begins with a callback to the credit sequence from ROTPOTA, as red lines circle the globe, spreading what the film calls “Simian Flu” around the world.  It destroys the majority of humanity to the point where a decade after the first film the apes hadn’t had any contact with humans in two years.  The apes, led by Caesar (Andy Serkis) from the first film, have created their own society.  It is practically a utopia until they come across a human expedition.  This incident shatters the isolation of both communities, as the humans need to reach into ape territory to access a power plant in hopes of solving an energy crisis.  The apes agree but the uneasy agreement that, as you can expect, eventually crumbles.

The story is ultimately a tragedy, as the humans are afraid of these hyper intelligent apes while the apes, in particular former lab experiment Koba (Toby Kebbell), have some issues trusting the humans as well.  Ultimately it can only result in the world from the original series of films, but it is still compelling to see that process unfold.  It doesn’t get quite as dark as I wanted, but considering the box office this film is raking, we’ll be seeing increasingly grim chapters to come.

Of course you can’t mention this film without praising the work of Andy Serkis.  Serkis, who I believe gets top billing for the first time in his career, continues to shine as ape leader Caesar.  Serkis is best known for his work in motion capture acting, roles that don’t get him even the glory of a great character actor, but he deserves all the praise he’s gotten for Caesar.  His work here rivals that of his other best known work, Gollum in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit series.  Serkis conveys all of the confusion Caesar had as far as supporting his apes, but still caring about the humanity that raised him.  It is a shame his work isn’t considered Academy worthy.

The great acting is assisted in superb special effects.  From the first shot after the prologue, the level of detail of the apes is stunning.  Director Matt Reeves (Let Me In), coming in after ROTPOTA’s Rupert Wyatt, does a great job in blending the effects into real world.  He also handles the action well as the apes and humans have their inevitable showdown (a particular POV shot from a tank is a highlight).

Although it may be saving the darkest stuff for future films, DOTPOTA is an exciting, entertaining film.  Much like what made the initial reboot work, they were able to mine a human story (mutual distrust between factions with different agendas trying to co-exist but escalating into all-out war) and use state of the art special effects well in service of that story.  This series is heading towards the inevitable moment where the title is the truth rather than the promise.  Despite knowing that fact, it doesn’t hinder the enjoyment of this new series one bit.

Grade: B+

Notes (SPOILERS):

-It may be splitting hairs, but I think Rise would’ve been the more appropriate word for this film title.  The first film in the reboot showed the beginnings of apes becoming smarter (the dawn), now we see them form their society and begin setting the stage for the war (the rise)

-I probably should mention something about the human characters, who are also good, but really, we’re here for the apes riding horses with a machine gun in each hand.  Jason Clarke’s Malcolm and Gary Oldman’s Dreyfus serve as a parallel to Caesar and Koba, and those fundamental differences between the two eventually lead to the war that humanity will lose.

-In a way, Caesar and Koba’s struggles mirror another conflicting relationship from earlier this summer, the one between Charles Xavier and Magneto from X-Men. 

-How long do you think we’ll have to wait until the Statue of Liberty falls?  I figure the next one, and that’ll be the stinger for the trailer.

-The dream director for a future installment would be Herzog, whose oeuvre is filled with nature overpowering humanity, but that would likely be another “Edgar Wright directing Ant-Man” scenario.

-I was expecting maybe a grizzled James Franco to make a cameo.  It is interesting to have a franchise like this where none of the human characters from the first one are in the second.

-Caesar’s son gets his scars so we can tell him apart from the other apes, right?

-I think it is telling that Koba’s ultimate fall to his death (nice foreshadowing with the gesture of forgiveness resembling helping someone up) isn’t just a straight fall, but one punctuated by him getting caught on a wire and hitting some equipment, then falling.  Definitely a major sea change in the ape world.