Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

By: Robert Murphy

There's bananas, oh and spoilers too 

Wow, talk about a wordy title. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes and we all know how sequels can go but with a movie like this I couldn't see it going wrong. The story this time around picks up after the events of the last movie where the apes that Caesar (Andy Serkis) released and made intelligent have moved into the forests, meanwhile humanity has collapsed. The vaccine which made the apes intelligent caused horrible side affects for humanity and it spread across the world, it became known as the simian flu. But like cockroaches we survived, the last bits of humanity are barely hanging on and once again humans and apes will meet after Caesar and his fellow apes have made a peaceful life for themselves. Human and ape fear will be shown but whose will succeed in the end.

There are two sides to the of the coin to this film at the start, Caesar and his community are surviving strong after ten years, he has a family and they live a peaceful existence with rules and order under him. The other side of the coin is humanity, the people in San Francisco are surviving but need power to stay alive leading to a group heading to try and get electricity from a nearby dame in the woods. This is where the two first collide as Malcolm (Jason Clarke), his new wife Ellie (Keri Russell), his son Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and three others meet the apes after neither one had encountered each other for the past few years. This is where everything begins to go downhill for both sides because for humanity apes were the cause of the end for everyone and for the apes humans are dangerous, violent and will lead to no good. 

Fear is what causes a rift for both sides and it manifest mainly in two character in particular, Koba (Toby Kebbell) who is also an ape from the last film is the second in command and will play a crucial role as he fears and knows what humans are capable of. Then on the human side of things there's Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) who is somewhat of the militaristic half of the community and will do whatever it takes to make sure their community survives even if he has to kill every last ape to get them the power they all need. Caesar, who has been an amazing character in both films is smack dab in the middle of it all, he is torn between his fellow apes who he truly loves most and then humanity who he has sympathy for and knows that many of them are good after he was raised by a good family in the last film. Watching it all throughout the film, everything was incredibly powerful and I loved the story for both sides, maybe the apes a little bit more than the humans though. The underline message about fear and hating what we either don't know or don't understand was something very obvious and something that really made the film.

Alongside the great story, there were some incredible action sequences to behold that were often just as powerful. Koba's constant questioning of Caesar's motives are what lead to many of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes fight scenes and you truly understand how powerful these creatures are even though it is motion capture work being done. Combined with fierce intelligence that all these creatures gained in the last film, it is no wonder why it is not so hard to believe that this could be real or it could happen, it makes the fantasy styling of the film a whole lot more believable to watch. Other action sequences do bring a few questions to my mind as Dreyfus arms all of his people with guns from a nearby base filled with all sorts of ordinances. I found it a little hard to believe about some of the artillery that the film packs into it but it sure does make for a terrific boom or multiple ones in this films case. 

In conclusion, I like many people say that sequels often don't live up to their predecessor but Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is not one that falls into that category by any means. Caesar's return to the now more main stage of the film was outstanding and neither the human nor the ape side of the story fails in it's storytelling. All sides of the film frankly work at full capacity and makes for one of the more believable science fiction films you will see around. Some of the action for the human side in the film may have been a bit much but that is all that really nagged me while I was watching.   

Good:

- Incredibly smart and gripping story

- Caesar is back and even more compelling of a character to watch

- Great cast for humans and apes alike

- Teaches a lesson that people today should learn for themselves

Bad:

- The human arsenal you see may be a bit blown out but this is only a minor thing

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10