Rarely is a sequel better than the original…Of course, there are exceptions, such as ‘Godfather 2’ and now ‘Dawn of The Planet Of The Apes’. This film is absolutely fantastic on every level, starting with…
Andy Serkis as Caesar, the soulful, emotional, kind and fair ape that we met in ‘Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes’ starring James Franco. Okay right off the bat, I have to say that Serkis is amazing. He gives such a beautiful, nuanced performance that we, as an audience, are able to feel everything that Caesar feels and thinks.
The film, shot in 3D, is brilliantly directed by Matt Reeves (‘Cloverfield’) from Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver’s script.
‘Dawn of the Planet Of The Apes’ takes place a decade after most of the human race has been wiped out by the man-made Simian virus.
Caesar who now has a wife, Cornelia (Judy Greer) a teenage son, son, and a new born baby, is the well respected leader of thousand of apes, who reside in Muir Woods, outside of San Francisco.
The apes haven’t seen humans for years, and wonder if they are now extinct.
But that’s all about to change.
Into their peaceful home, comes Malcolm (Jason Clarke) a former architect who lost his wife to the virus, his teenage son, Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Ellie (Keri Russell) a former CDC nurse, along with a few not-so friendly companions.
Immediately sides are drawn…Koba, (Toby Kebbell) the ape who spent years in captivity, having to endure horrendous experiments by scientists hates humans with a vengeance. Can you blame him?
Caesar, on the other hand, is conflicted about humanity because of the way he was brought up…He learned all about human belief systems and thought of Will (James Franco) from ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ as his father.
It doesn’t take long for the apes to find out, that there are in fact, a great deal of humans that have survived and they are living close by, in the ruins of San Francisco. Many of them, including their leader, Dreyfus (Gary Oldman)a former law enforcement dude, blame the apes for the virus.
Adding to the tension is the knowledge that the colony will soon be out of power. That was one of the reasons, Malcom and his group were in the forest. They are looking for a source of energy and just happened to find one…unfortunately it’s right next to the apes habitat.
So the question is…can apes and humans co-exist peacefully and put aside their mistrust and blame or…will they do their best to wipe each other out? What do you think?
Well, we all know the answer to that question.
‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ is basically the story of two families – one human and one ape. And it’s through these families, we get to experience their struggle to survive among the ruins of civilization.
The film is beautifully shot thanks to cinematographer, Michael Seresin and the performances, including that of Maurice, the lovable Orangutan and Rocket (Terry Notary) Caesar’s closest allies, are all amazing.
I should mention that the apes have now evolved to a point where they communicate using sign language and Caesar’s vocabulary is better than a lot of people I know.
‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ opens in theatres, Friday July 11, 2014. Do not miss it.
After all, I don’t give just any film 5 bagels out of 5.
Check out the Two Jews On Film video for more of my thoughts.
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