Dawn of the Planet of the ApesBy Wilson Morales
There aren’t that many sequels that could be considered superior to its predecessor, unless you’re thinking of “The Empire Strikes Back,” but when the same writers (Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Mark Bomback) are back along with at least one returning character (Andy Serkis as the ape Caesaer), there’s room for one more to fit in that room. Such is the case with “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” a riveting, well-layered, intelligent and emotional film that will please fans and audiences looking for an evening’s entertainment.
Ten years have passed since “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” where Caesar and the rest of the apes in captivity escaped into the woods in San Francisco to find and live a peaceful life. Throughout that time, a plague, the man-made simian disease, has wiped out most of the humans across the world. Caesar, leader of the apes, has lived in comfort, raising a family with a newborn on the way as well as guide his people with rules, similar to Moses and the ten commandments. Words like “Ape Not Kill Ape” and “Apes Strong Together” hold a lot of weight within the community. Those words get tested when a group of humans, led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), his wife Ellie (Keri Russell) son Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and three others including the skeptical Carver (Kirk Acevedo) come into the forest which makes everyone uneasy.
Seems that a large number of humans are still alive and living on the other side of the forest, and led by Dreyfus (Gary Oldman). It’s only a matter of time before the rations of food and supplies start fading unless they can get the power generator, which is in the forest, to start working again. Caesar leads Malcolm (Clarke) and his group out the forest, declaring war should they come back again. When his chief lieutenant Koba (Toby Kebbell) objects at Caesar have any sympathy for humans, a rift starts developing between the two.
After convincing Caesar to allow them to stay for three days to get the power up, Malcolm starts to believe that maybe apes and humans can live peacefully, but with Dreyfus gearing up for war and Koba looking to start one, time is of the essence before one side starts a chain reaction of chaos that leads to a survival of mankind and apes.
Directed by Matt Reeves (“Cloverfield”), ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is just an astonishing piece of work. From the writing (Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Mark Bomback, Pierre Boulle) to the action scenes as well as the performances, all cylinders are working together and to a great effect. At the core of the performances is Andy Serkis as Caesar. Although he was quite effective as Gollum in the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, this film is clearly his to lead. The effects of motion-capture from the WETA workshop has never been at its finest than in this film. There are a lot of themes explored from peace, equality, family and freedom and with the storytelling, all are well balanced. In short, this a film that is literate, artistic and highly entertaining. Easily it’s one of the best of the year, and not just a summer year.
