My Dawn of the Planet of the Apes review: For those of you that have already seen 2011s Rise of the Planet of the Apes and have been waiting impatiently for its sequel you will certainly be up to speed with the story so far. For those that have not, I can only assume that its either not your sort of thing, you are a die-hard original fan who thinks that it can never be as good let alone bettered or you are one of the disappointed many that saw Tim Burtons catastrophic car-wreck of an effort and simply can not bring yourself to watch any more reboots, then trust me, watch it. You will not be let down this time. For those that have, however, this is certainly the follow-up youve been waiting and hoping for and so much more. A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earths dominant species. (c) Fox. ~ Rotten Tomatoes movie info. Nearly ten years have passed since the outbreak of the Simian flu virus that has spread throughout the world and all but wiped out the human race, save but scattered pockets of the remains of mankind. The Ape population has, meanwhile, grown even larger and stronger. Lead by the mighty Caesar. Caesar is played once again by the ridiculously talented Andy Serkis, who is without a doubt the absolute master of motion-capture. His acting is pure class and gives such realism to what is, in my opinion, the greatest piece of CGI work I have ever seen; the combination of the two making Caesar stand out as more than just a computer generated creation but, a raw and realistic character that owns every scene that he is in. Amongst the great community of apes, built in the Muir Woods, north of San Fransico, we meet once again Caesars loyal orangutan friend Maurice (Karin Konoval) and Kobo, Caesars lieutenant whose portrayal by Toby Kebbell deserves the same recognition as Andy Serkis. He truly owns this character and plays him with absolute conviction. As for the humans, we get to meet Jason Clarke who plays Malcolm, the main protagonist of the movie who fills the gap left by the absence of James Franco (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) as the man who forms a strong friendship with Caesar. Jason Clarke truly brings genuine humanity to the film and you feel like youre taking the journey with him. A testament to his great acting. Then, we have Dreyfus, the leader of the remaining humans that were immune to the virus and live in a guarded tower within the ruins of the city, played by the always excellent Gary Oldman. There really isnt much to say about Gary Oldmans performance as he always nails pretty much every role he plays. So finally, to the movie itself. When I first heard it was to take place several years after the first one I must admit, I really didnt think that it was going to work. I just couldnt see how such a big gap could tie in nicely with the end of Rise. How wrong I was. The entire ten year gap was wrapped up nicely within the first few minutes of the film and I instantly felt like I had missed out on nothing what-so-ever. In hindsight, to continue the film directly where Rise left off would have been a huge mistake and more than likely a franchise killer. By skipping ahead it has done away with possibly insignificant plot points and got right to the meat of the story. It starts off slow, mostly focusing on and introducing us to the community of apes, including Caesars own mate and son which, to me, is important as it establishes how much the apes have evolved and risen as the dominant species above the humans. It continues in this manner for a large portion of the film, flitting between the apes and the humans until finally conflict erupts between the two species and all hell breaks loose, culminating in an epic all-out battle between them. So to summarize, this is a fantastically told story, leagues ahead of its predecessor in almost every way that proves without a doubt that the Apes reboot is here to stay, with lots more to tell and more to come. Hail Caesar!
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:01:38 +0000
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