Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

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Why can't we all just get along?

We pick up more than 10 years after the virus eliminated seemingly all of man kind. Caesar (Andy Serkis), still living in the woods of California is in charge of his colony and has a family of his own. However there are a group of humans, led by Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) near by, and they need access to a generator that is underneath a dam near the Apes' home. Caesar makes the decision to trust them, particularly Malcolm (Jason Clarke) but his confidant, Koba (Toby Kebbell) isn't as trusting.

I realize now when watching this that even though I enjoyed Rise, I didn't really remember a lot of it. This film, though it still has its flaws feels like it will be far more memorable in the long run. Everything is turned up a notch. The CGI looks even more realistic, there's far more action. There's a scene of Koba, riding a horse wielding two machine guns that I'm still trying to decide if I thought it was hilarious or terrifying. 

Clarke isn't as interesting of a lead as Franco was, but it makes sense for Franco's character not to be there. That's nothing against Clarke, he's still good in his role. Far better than Oldman was, anyways. His character felt a little pointless. Dawn has some issues with pacing and it almost feels like a marathon at times, but it offers a unique perspective from both the humans and the apes' side of things. Caesar in particular has become such an iconic character because of all of this.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B- 

Memorable Quote: "I have you and your father now.." - Ellie (Keri Russell)

Comments

  1. Candice FrederickJuly 17, 2014 at 9:39 PM

    solid review. seems like a mixed bag though. I plan to rent it

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dan O.July 18, 2014 at 12:48 PM

    Nice review Brittani. Astounding in technical achievement and in narrative as well as possibly the best performance in mo-cap to date.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 19, 2014 at 6:37 AM

      I agree. Serkis has really become the king of motion capture.

      Delete
  3. UnknownJuly 22, 2014 at 12:45 AM

    Thank you for the honest, balanced review. My daughter has been asking to see this in the theater ( a rare splurge for us :-)). It sounds like it might be worth seeing on the big screen for the CGI effects, even if this film didn't totally knock it out of the ballpark.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 22, 2014 at 5:57 AM

      The effects are great. The apes look a lot better this time around. I'd say it's definitely worth a matinee.

      Delete
  4. JoshJuly 30, 2014 at 6:07 PM

    Ha, I felt almost the exact opposite about this film, which surprised me. I LOVED it! :)

    ReplyDelete

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