Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

'Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes' is an incredibly intense film compared to it's predecessor and has quite a few scenes that will stick in your head for days after seeing it. It's a grim tale about human nature set ten years after 'Rise', where *SPOILERS* the simian flu has wiped out most of humankind and the apes have been peacefully living in the woods outside San Francisco. They've managed to form a very ewok-y community with Caesar reigning high as the alpha. Everything seems to be going swell for the apes but of course those pesky humans show up (a group of homo-sapiens immune to the virus) and before you know it both races are fighting to the death for the survival of their species. It's not the most complicated plot ever but the film shines due to the intense power of it's performances and visuals. 

'Dawn' is a really bleak picture of human nature, the idea that as a species hominids are destined to wage war with one another. This message is constantly rammed home in the last half, reinforced by how quickly the apes adapt to using human weapons against their own kind and the humans, despite being portrayed as a mostly peaceful race in beginning. The battle scenes are brutal, with both sides being horribly realistic in how they enact vengeance. I described 'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' as being very anti-summer blockbuster, and this trend continues in 'Dawn'. Yes, you will find plenty of thrilling action set-pieces and pretty explosions here but all of it is coated in a thick anti-war message. These scenes are further amplified by Michael Giacchino who has composed an amazing soundtrack gave me an old school Hollywood feeling.  

The tragedy of 'Dawn' is that you can genuinely see humans and apes co-existing together peacefully, as both sides seem reasonable in their actions. The two main characters Caeser and Malcolm are level headed people that see a future for both species, but despite all their efforts war still breaks out. Even the so-called 'bad guys' feel justified from their point of view, whether due to traumatic past experiences or preservation of their species.

I really like how humankind are portrayed in 'Dawn'. A lesser film *COUGH*Avatar*COUGH* would paint the humans as hot tempered war warmongering lunatics wanting to burn everything tinged green to the ground. This isn't the case in 'Dawn'. Here every single character in the film, apes and humans, strive to do what they think is the right thing. Sure Gary Oldman's Dreyfus sees the apes are as a threat to their community (these are hundreds of apes with spears just outside his back-door remember) but he gives Jason Clark's character Malcolm a week to settle things out and get the dam working before he starts rolling out the big guns. There's a fantastic scene with no dialogue where Dreyfus just looks at old family photos on his ipad and just starts weeping. 

Sure it looks silly now, but wait til' you see the finished version.

Most of the film relies on the visual storytelling of the special effects and actors in order to sell a scene. It helps then that the motion capture and SFX work on the apes is even more stunning this time around. For the first five minutes you'll be wondering 'WOW, this is CGI?' as the amount of detail on display is incredible. Seen as the apes are in 85% of the movie and there can be over a hundred apes in one shot I wonder how they could fit all these effects on a relatively modest (by Hollywood blockbuster standards) 170 million dollar budget because holy sh*t these apes look out-of-this-world amazing. 'Rise' was a concentrated affair with a laser sight focused mostly on Caeser's journey but here a lot of the apes are given supporting roles and have genuine personalities. Toby Kebbell as Caesers second-in-command Koba is the breakout star of the film, it's a frighteningly realistic performance and he is sh*t your pants scary at points. Nick Hurstan's Bright Eyes and Karin Konoval's Maurice also really good at capturing intense emotion through speechless characters. It's light-years away from the rubbery masks of the Charlton Heston era, you will sympathise with these apes and be f*cking terrified by them. The apes easily hold their own against the equally amazing human performers, talk about an amazing cast! The other FX heavy elements are of course the action scenes which are brilliantly executed and superbly tense, with one scene in particular (360 degree camera pan strapped to a tank in the midst of burning chaos) making my jaw drop with the sheer feels assaulting my senses from all sides. The final stand-off is also immensely satisfying and climactic. Again, be prepared for some brutal images of ape-on-human and ape-on-ape carnage. 

Overall props has to be given to director Matt Reeves ('Cloverfield', 'Let Me In') who took over the reigns from Rupert Wyatt who did the first movie and was also going to do the second before he dropped out. He has crafted a near masterpiece of drama cinema with 'Dawn' and it's all thanks to his impeccable directing and genuine care put into every aspect of the production. For me personally it tops 'Rise' which was also a really good, no great, film. The new 'Apes' franchise is shaping up to be one of the all time greats, let's hope the inevitable third movie doesn't drop the ball massively. And if that ending is anything to go by it's going to be an explosive (and heartbreaking) one... 

Positives:

+ Fantastic direction, visuals and performances
+ Thrilling action sequences, intense chaos
+ Amazing SFX, motion capture on apes
+ Better than the previous film
+ Deliciously bleak message
+ Apes on horses dual wielding AK-47's!
+ Koba, Caeser
+ Great score
+ Satisfying final battle

Negatives:

- One really dumb human who was a bit cliche 
- Cliffhanger ending?
- ????

Overall score: 9,5/10

My reaction if the third movie disappoints...