Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

Review By: John Delia

If you are looking for action and drama this summer, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has both.  The science fiction adventure does a terrific job of depicting the apes with realism and their ongoing battle with the humans.  Fine acting, CGI/Cinematography and directing make this one sequel you will not want to miss on the big screen.  The 3D effects are good, but not necessary and you have a choice of either 2D or 3D when it opens today at theaters everywhere.

It’s been ten years since the Earth was ravaged by Simian Flu leaving a small percentage of the human population around the world to fend for themselves. In the meantime, a large number of apes have built a village in the forest of redwoods outside San Francisco.  Caesar (Andy Serkis) now has a son, adding to the growing population that lives under set standards for their masses. Now communicating with sign language and a few able to speak English, the tribe has hopes for a better future without human intervention. The humans are cordoned in the zone in San Francisco where they survived over the past 10 years, but fuel and electric have been depleted and are on the edge of extinction. 

One day a group of humans lead by Malcolm (Jason Clarke) that includes Ellie (Keri Russell), Carver (Kirk Acevedo), Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Kemp (Enrique Murciano) arrive in the forest to find a trail to a dam to restart generators for their compound in San Francisco.  They come across the apes and are startled with trigger finger Carver wounding Ash (Larramie Doc Shaw), the son of Koba (Toby Kebbell) who is second in command to Caesar. This causes a stir in the ape village with Caesar offering a sign of good will to the humans and getting the apes under control.

Caesar and Malcolm work out an agreement that includes no guns and things settle down for the bit.  When the humans return to San Francisco and report to their leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman), his doubts about trusting the apes start to fester. Director Matt Reeves who brought Cloverfield and Let Me In to the screen does an impressive job with his creation of this sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Far greater than Rise, this film has a unique story of human and ape relationships, showing how the ape society has developed and a battle of wits and emotions between man and animal. 

Reeves lets his imagination run wild creating an army of apes for the big screen that look so realistic it amazes. He works the computer overtime in tandem with make-up, costuming, performance capture, prosthetics and special effects. The crew blows the ceiling off realism creating apes that function, speak and act out scene after scene. Each of his main cast of about 12 to 15 apes has different features that include scars and coloration so you can tell them apart.  He then interlaces hundreds of apes to give the effect of a burgeoning colony. It shows that over the ten years since Caesar, Koba, Rocket, Maurice and the others escaped from San Bruno Primate Center they have become a nation unto themselves.

The story is a good one featuring the ape’s loving side by introducing a new son to Caesar with his wife Cornelia (Judy Greer) giving birth.  The father-son relationships are vetted between Caesar and his son Blue Eyes, Koba and his son Ash as well as humans Malcolm and his son Alexander.  Both sides show their claim to be able to exist following the devastation that has killed off most of the Earth’s population.  While the Simians are content with living in the wild and were immune to the flu, only a small mass survived by being invulnerable as well.

Andy Serkis has played many prominent roles in special make-up like Gollum (voice of Smeagol) in Lord of the Rings trilogy and later in The Hobbit, Kong in King Kong, Unicorn in Inkheart and of course both recent productions of Planet of the Apes. His brilliance continues with Caesar, providing many different expressions to Caesar as he deals with being a leader, father and husband.  The scenes vary with Serkis using special prosthetics on his body for close-ups or using motion capture to show movements of his ape riding a horse or fighting on top of a tower.

Dawn of the Apes has been rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief strong language. There are subtitles that will help when the apes use sign language. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that are inappropriate for adolescents. 

FINAL ANALYSIS: A very exciting movie with nonstop action and drama. (B+)