Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has been in my top 10 anticipated movies of 2014 for quite sometime (Along with movies like Boyhood, Inherent Vice, Godzilla, The Rover, Birdman and more). The reason for my excitement being director Matt Reeves who made the brilliant Let Me In (the american remake of Let the Right One In), the fun yet quease inducing Cloverfield and the wonderful TV show Felicity. I was really excited to see what he would bring to the Apes franchise, especially when it was wonderfully rebooted with Rise of the Planet of the Apes and from the beautifully haunting prologue that start this film I knew that I was in for something really special.
Dawn takes place ten years after Rise and the simian flu that was created in the previous film has killed most of humanity. The film follows Caesar (Andy Serkis) as he leads his family of Apes but faces opposition from Koba (Toby Kebball), an Ape that was used for scientific experimentation and resents humans for the pain they caused him. It also follows the surviving humans of San Francisco lead by Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) and Malcolm (Australian actor Jason Clarke) who are trying to get power back to the city by fixing a dam located in the Ape's territory. This film has a strong focus on family with Caesar doing everything in his power to keep his family safe, including his wife Cornelia (Judy Greer) and Malcolm doing all he can to ensure the survival of his girlfriend Ellie (Keri Russell) and son Alexander (Australian actor Kodi Smit-McPhee).
Much like How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Dark Knight and The Empire Strikes Back, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes not only expands on the previous film but exceeds it on both the level of spectacle and depth (though it won't be as revered as the last two). Matt Reeves directs with a delicate touch and the gorgeous cinematography of Michael Seresin never wastes a frame with each shot done with such intention; the framing and use of camera movement is superb and made more engrossing by being shot natively in 3D (not post converted) and definitely worth the extra $$$. This is all aided by a beautiful score from Michael Giacchino with little odes to the 1968 original though at times it does feel like it retreads the themes of Super 8 a bit. The VFX from Weta Digital are superb and so photo-realistic (it's insane how real the apes seem), aided by brilliant motion-capture performances especially from Andy Serkis (of course) who continues to prove that motion-capture deserves it's own awards category.
Dawn feels like a response to the many blockbusters we seem to be getting bombarded with lately; because even though it is being pegged as a blockbuster and contains moments of spectacle, what Matt Reeves did was trick everyone into seeing an epic family drama. The Apes films have always been social commentary with allegories ranging from racism to science vs religion but what the new Apes films have done is make them so much more personal by making the Apes the main focus of the films. Though this does weaken the human characters to an extant the actors playing them are able to fully flesh out the little that seems to be in the script and make them dimensional...except for Carver (Kirk Acevedo) who is very one note; I also would have liked to have seen more of the back story of Gary Oldman's Dreyfus.
Dawn is about two families who a trying to survive and how far they would go to ensure that they do. In that sense it doesn't really have an antagonist (don't get me wrong it's definitely does in Koba) but it's more than just a man vs apes movie. Now this is far from a perfect movie. It definitely has its flaws, most of those stemming from unrealistic science with many appliances untouched for years seeming to work for the plots convenience along with some rather weak dialogue at times in what is an otherwise well written and heartfelt film. An added plus are the spectacular set pieces of the film; Matt Reeves fills the action with excitement, meaning and care without needing to throw the camera around or edit the sequences like a kid who has eaten too much sugar (here's looking at you Michael bay) and it never feels showy or overstays it's welcome (once again...Michael Bay take note).
In the end Matt Reeves makes a blockbuster that redefines the current trend by making the type of film that you could see being made in the 70's or 80's but with the technology of the 21st century. To me this is the best blockbuster so far this year (mostly because it doesn't seem like one) and it is more than just that; this is a powerful and moving family drama and pure cinema and I want to see more studios make films like this. Now this doesn't mean I want all blockbusters to be dark, brooding and serious (I am very much excited to see what fun Guardians of the Galaxy has in store for us) but I want them to be made by people who really care about what they are doing along with their audience and fill their films with a whole lot of heart. This truly a fantastic film and I implore you all to get out there and watch it (and if you bought tickets to see the new Transformers movie I want to spend double the money on this film).
4 1/2 out of 5 Stars
Thanks for reading my review, let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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