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  

Hellsing Ultimate

By: Robert Murphy

For centuries, the royal houses of Britain have kept a dark secret from the world, vampires and the undead exist in this world and it is quickly revealed that things do in fact go bump in the night. To counter this threat, a special force of dedicated individuals, headed by the heir to the “Hellsing” legacy, works tirelessly to hunt down and root out the undead wherever  they hide, to protect Queen and Country (how very British, am I right?). Under the direct authority of the Queen, Integra Hellsing leads the Royal Order of Protestant Knights in a shadow war against her family's most ancient foe, but unlike her ancestors, Integra fights these demons with something no one would expect, a vampire of incredible power named Alucard. The patriarch of the vampires and a living embodiment of all that it means to be vampire and he most certainly is not afraid to show it.

Alucard and Seras

If you haven’t heard anything about “Hellsing” until reading this review know this, this is not a touchy feely anime, not by a long shot. This is an incredibly dark show, centered around vampires, and I mean real vampires, the stuff of nightmares that devour your flesh and relish in it, nothing of the crap vampires you see in movies today. Alucard (or Dracula backwards as some of you may know) is a real, traditional vampire right down to the core, although you wouldn’t know it from his up to date attire vastly different from his predecessors. He's also a vain, snide son of a bitch (which I personally enjoy) but also he’s possessed with a dignity that is missing from more recent treatments of vampires. He's anti-hero through and through, but you just can't help rooting for him even when it's obvious he's not really a good guy at all. Then there is Integra Hellsing, who is the model of a cold hearted human (but with her job, can you blaim her?) she's the direct descendant of people whose lives were dedicated to dealing with the darkest of evil things and it shows. Her butler/bodyguard, Walter is also very cool, with his polished English manners contrasted by the skill with which he cuts up ghouls with mono-filament wire makes him a character that may rival your liking of Alucard. And last, but not least is Seras Victoria, a member of London’s police force, who is nearly killed in the first episode, but is saved by Alucard by being made into a vampire herself. She is quite possibly the most "normal" of the main characters, as the newbie-vampire of Hellsing, her training and struggles with her new un-life give a bit of comedy to this dark show.

Lady Integra.  Not exactly what you would call a warm, endearing woman.

As I said before, Alucard and his powers are right out of the old novels and ancient tales on vampires, there is no masquerade in the story either, Alucard is a vampire he doesn’t care who knows it and he is not shy about throwing his power out there for all to see. Alucard has it all: the speed, the strength, regeneration, the ability to summon hell hounds, change into bats, and even pass through shadows. “Hellsing” has tons of great atmosphere, cool characters, and lots of guns-blazing action, with that in mind, it may also be a bit too much for some audiences, it gets down right gruesome quite frequently in these jam packed episode and I myself don’t mind this one bit but others may not be as accustomed to all the blood, violence and mayhem. This is definitely not a show for the squeamish, but then again, a show done about vampires any other way would just be, well “Twilight” comes to mind. Each episode is an incredible ride and I highly recommend it to anyone who does not mind gore, not sexual but definitely adult scenes, religious references….okay put it bluntly, you can’t be a prude if you want to watch this show.

Good:

-Portrays a classic vampire story

-Cool characters, each with their own unique personalities and appeal

-Gore and lots of it

Bad:

-Not for the squeamish

-It’s lude and crude, and while I myself like that, it’s not for everyone

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10