Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, and Toby Kebbell
Directed by: Matt Reeves
Screenplay by: Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver
A second movie to tell us how the Planet of the Apes really began.
At the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a disease broke out. It killed off most of the human race and made apes into rather intelligent creatures, now led by Caesar (Andy Serkis). By the time the story of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes starts, the remaining humans in San Francisco have joined together and live in a survivors colony inside the city. But they need power that only a specific dam can provide, and that requires going into ape territory, just across the Golden Gate Bridge (the posters you see around town; they lie. The Golden Gate Bridge is intact in the film, not destroyed, like the posters show). Until now, the humans and the apes live in harmony and it seems as if there may be a chance at peace between them. Caesar is a benevolent leader of the apes who allows the humans to conduct their work at the dam in order to rebuild the city. But then there's Koba (Toby Kebbell).
Koba is a less benevolent ape, and "advisor" to Caesar. Koba does not trust the humans while Caesar does. Koba feels that Caesar is betraying his fellow apes by helping the humans. Tensions build between the apes and the humans and it looks as if war becomes inevitable. Koba wants the humans all to be dead while Caesar is willing to live in peace with them.
There is an interesting parallel in the film between Caesar and Koba, and Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Dreyfus (Gary Oldman), the two leaders of the human colony. Caesar and Koba are the "co-leaders" of the ape faction and Malcolm and Dreyfus are the leaders of the human faction. What's interesting about them is that Caesar and Malcolm are characters who compliment each other because they are interested in not only helping their own factions, but each other's as well. Koba wants all the humans to be destroyed while Dreyfus feels the same about the apes. There is a struggle between both of these leadership structures, but the ape leadership is more developed and the struggle displayed more on the ape side than on the human side. This makes for a good set up to the original Planet of the Apes movie, because humanity obviously becomes extinct and the apes take over.
It feels like the film tries to give the humans a chance at survival, which I like. I like that while it's pretty clear what's going to happen, humans are still given a chance to beat the odds.
Now, for the acting. Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell are totally awesome as Caesar and Koba respectively. It doesn't take long at all for us to forget that there are actually actors who are playing the roles of these apes. The motion capture technology is fantastic and looks incredibly realistic. These are the two factors that lead us to forget that there are actors behind these roles. Jason Clarke delivers a solid performance, as well as Gary Oldman, but we don't see nearly enough of him.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a film that should go in the epic movie category. It is truly a larger than life seeming movie, transporting the audience to a whole other world once the lights go down in the theater. It is easy to forget that one is actually sitting in a theater watching this film. The ambient noises often heard in films like this are heard but not always noticed by the average moviegoer, thus truly taking the audience on a wonderful adventure. I am a huge fan of movies like this, and this is a huge plus for this film.
Some people might expect this movie to be more action packed than it actually is. I certainly did. It's predecessor, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is much faster paced than this film is, and you might expect more of the same if that is what you are basing your expectations on. But go into this film open minded, and you'll be amazed at what you'll see.
I give Dawn of the Planet of the Apes an A-.
Directed by: Matt Reeves
Screenplay by: Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver
A second movie to tell us how the Planet of the Apes really began.
At the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a disease broke out. It killed off most of the human race and made apes into rather intelligent creatures, now led by Caesar (Andy Serkis). By the time the story of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes starts, the remaining humans in San Francisco have joined together and live in a survivors colony inside the city. But they need power that only a specific dam can provide, and that requires going into ape territory, just across the Golden Gate Bridge (the posters you see around town; they lie. The Golden Gate Bridge is intact in the film, not destroyed, like the posters show). Until now, the humans and the apes live in harmony and it seems as if there may be a chance at peace between them. Caesar is a benevolent leader of the apes who allows the humans to conduct their work at the dam in order to rebuild the city. But then there's Koba (Toby Kebbell).
Koba is a less benevolent ape, and "advisor" to Caesar. Koba does not trust the humans while Caesar does. Koba feels that Caesar is betraying his fellow apes by helping the humans. Tensions build between the apes and the humans and it looks as if war becomes inevitable. Koba wants the humans all to be dead while Caesar is willing to live in peace with them.
There is an interesting parallel in the film between Caesar and Koba, and Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Dreyfus (Gary Oldman), the two leaders of the human colony. Caesar and Koba are the "co-leaders" of the ape faction and Malcolm and Dreyfus are the leaders of the human faction. What's interesting about them is that Caesar and Malcolm are characters who compliment each other because they are interested in not only helping their own factions, but each other's as well. Koba wants all the humans to be destroyed while Dreyfus feels the same about the apes. There is a struggle between both of these leadership structures, but the ape leadership is more developed and the struggle displayed more on the ape side than on the human side. This makes for a good set up to the original Planet of the Apes movie, because humanity obviously becomes extinct and the apes take over.
It feels like the film tries to give the humans a chance at survival, which I like. I like that while it's pretty clear what's going to happen, humans are still given a chance to beat the odds.
Now, for the acting. Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell are totally awesome as Caesar and Koba respectively. It doesn't take long at all for us to forget that there are actually actors who are playing the roles of these apes. The motion capture technology is fantastic and looks incredibly realistic. These are the two factors that lead us to forget that there are actors behind these roles. Jason Clarke delivers a solid performance, as well as Gary Oldman, but we don't see nearly enough of him.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a film that should go in the epic movie category. It is truly a larger than life seeming movie, transporting the audience to a whole other world once the lights go down in the theater. It is easy to forget that one is actually sitting in a theater watching this film. The ambient noises often heard in films like this are heard but not always noticed by the average moviegoer, thus truly taking the audience on a wonderful adventure. I am a huge fan of movies like this, and this is a huge plus for this film.
Some people might expect this movie to be more action packed than it actually is. I certainly did. It's predecessor, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is much faster paced than this film is, and you might expect more of the same if that is what you are basing your expectations on. But go into this film open minded, and you'll be amazed at what you'll see.
I give Dawn of the Planet of the Apes an A-.
Comments
Post a Comment