Ordinary Guy Movie Review

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2014)
4 out of  5



When it comes to Matt Reeve's sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the film deserves it's success and rave reviews. While the special effects are amazing, they are not overdone in a way that compromises the splendid performances. And it's the performances of the actors who portray the main apes in the movie are the ones that shine bright in this movie, making the human performances seem quite drab, even for the brilliant Gary Oldman. Not exactly his best work, but he's such a great actor that his performance was still enjoyable to watch.



Andy Serkis

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is ripe with emotion and captures it triumphantly. It draws you into this world without very little effort, which the 2001 Tim Burton version seemed to fail to do. Andy Serkis, whom also plays Golem in the Lord of the Rings, gives another compelling and realistic performance of Caesar and deserves every acclaim that has given to him, but he is not the only actor that shines. Toby Kebbell's performance as the fearsome Koba is also spectacular. The CGI is absolutely top notch and so believable that one has to remind themselves it's a movie.


Caesar

The best and worst part of this movie is that it is so relatable and speaks intelligently to any viewer. The Planet of the Apes concept in the original film series gave audiences a mirror reflection of humanity and challenged it's ugliness, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes also does the same. While it does this and exposes the ugliness of humanity, the movie also shows the best of humanity and the constant struggle it has in doing what's morally right as opposed to doing things just to survive. The story shows deadly consequences that stem from the latter without pulling punches.

Knowing the past sins of humanity towards itself and life in general, it's easy to root for the apes. Call it our own human arrogance, but while watching the film one cannot help but see the apes as the underdogs even though they outnumber the human survivors and have the advantage. The film brilliantly does succeed in not demonizing one group or the other more or less, and the struggle both species encounter in the film is brutally relevant.

Koba

The hard part for this movie was making it as unpredictable as possible since most already know what the over-all end result is concerning the Planet of the Apes mythology. The film mildly succeeds in this and some parts were pretty predictable, but the why and hows were still quite entertaining to watch unfold. While that was the only minor weakness, another great strength of the story was the plausibility and realism that would draw the apes and humans into conflict. While I hoped the apes would help the humans in their quest for survival, deep down I knew that would be a mistake. It would only be a matter of time before the humans would want more and try to take more.

It's movies like Matt Reeve's Planet of the Apes series that still proves that movies with loads of special effects and some action can still have substance and say something. This movie gets four stars.

Vicb