Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Review

[Westside Steve]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

20^th Century Fox

 

PG 13 130 min

 

 

So summer is here; time for BBQs parties and sequels. Well that and superhero movies but this week it's DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, a sequel to a prequel.

Most movie fans remember the landmark series starring Charlton Heston whose cries of “You damn dirty apes” is as memorable as “Soylent Green is people!”

You may recall a little over a decade ago the PLANET OF THE APES series was brought out of mothballs starring none other than Mark Wahlberg under the direction of Tim Burton. Surprisingly enough it wasn't, as Wahlberg recalled later, very good. A couple years ago Rupert Wyatt decided to reboot the entire series through a prequel, which begins at the beginning. You know the ending of the original film right? We find out that all this monkey business had gone on years and years before and the distopian planet we saw was good old Mother Earth. This latest series attempts to tell the story of just how she got in such a predicament.

There are a few good reasons for sequels, or prequels if you must, and two of them are the simple facts that younger movie audiences never saw the original story and also whatever special effect were the hot ticket 30 years ago probably look a little cheesy today so re telling a good story with modern day visuals can be a big hit. So it is with the new series of apes.

As much as I liked Roddy McDowall wearing that rubber monkey head I am truly amazed to see Andy Serkis and the CGI wizardry that is brought these genetically altered simians to life.

The second installment takes us to a place in history after a virus has wiped out much of the human population. That means we have pockets of humans and pockets of very intelligent apes trying to survive the post apocalypse. Just as one will find tension between any groups of living creatures the apes and humans are distrustful of each other and apparently on the brink of war.

However one dynamic is probably unique among thinking primates and that is selective trust. There are both humans and apes who believe it's quite possible to live in peace and harmony with each other, yet there are just as many whose ingrained hatred makes it impossible to find common ground. Frankly that is the moral cudgel these films have all used to beat a little more hours into the heads of the viewing public.

Honestly it's probably not a bad lesson to learn. Sadly it isn't learned buy enough of the protagonist in this film. There are two compounds in the San Francisco area one among the trees inhabited by the apes and the other in the city where the humans have come across enough weapons to provide for an arsenal. In each of the opposing groups there are rivals for leadership. One who wishes for peace and one who calls for war and their counterparts. Whenever there is some sort off the break through it seems the warlike leader on either side will create a crisis for his own kind and blame it on the opponent. That means the tensions get worse and worse.

I won't tell you how it ends but I don't think anyone is unaware of the fact bad not only is a sequel in the works but also that we have not yet bridged the gap between the beginning of this series and the end of the first film many years ago. We can assume that there are serious events to come unless the writers have decided to go completely of the reservation.

Despite the somewhat slow pacing and rather obvious morality play I found this film surprisingly compelling.

Besides Serkis and his amazing portrayal, aided by the graphics department, there are no stand-out roles for actors here. Yes Gary Oldman is one of the leaders of the humans but as much as I admire him he is given very little to do here.

Still the audience will empathize with both sides knowing that peace is probably not going to be possible.

If you are seeking action, well, there's plenty of it but thankfully not too much, at least not enough to bog down the film. At the end you will still be crossing your fingers and wanting to see what comes next.

 

B

 

WSS

[nickers]

I loved the movie.. I loved both movies in fact and, Serkis is brilliant... I cant wait for the 3rd installment.