Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is set 10 years following the story of Rise of the Planet of the Apes where an Alzheimers disease cure inadvertently made a research ape named Caesar reach human mental capacity. The cure (in the form of a virus) was released and has decimated the human population while making apes it encounters intelligent as it spread across the globe. Caesar is the leader of a large clan of apes who have built an idyllic society in the forest near San Francisco. Tensions rise when they encounter humans once again as Caesars right hand Koba begins to question their leaders loyalties when he allows the humans to leave unharmed. Koba had legitimate reasons for hating humans (as he & many of them were mistreated in animal testing labs) igniting the spark that will lead to the apes domination of the planet. Just as Rise showed us the apes awakening, Dawn serves to show how the apes become a force that will soon take over the planet... an inevitable outcome that is depicted in the classic 1968 Planet of the Apes film with Charlton Heston. The key here is the evolution of Caesars character who was raised by a nurturing human father figure (played by James Franco in Rise). He struggles with his desire to protect his family and his desire to reconnect with the good that humanity can offer (in the form of Malcolm played by Jason Clarke). So naturally, dont expect a brainless wall to wall action extravaganza (thats what Bay & Transformers is for). This 2-hour(ish) film is first & foremost a drama with strong elements of science fiction. Nevertheless, there are a couple of fantastic action sequences that left a grin on my face. Dawn is visually stunning, the story & dialogue are very tightly written, & filmmaker Matt Reeves did a fantastic job in bringing it all together (yes he directed Cloverfield but dont hold that against him). For the first time in Greenhills Atmos theater, I actually experienced a unique aural sensation while watching the movie. You are literally enveloped by sound which was just plain amazing. Andy Serkis has once again breathed life to a digitally created character on the big screen (LotR/Hobbits Gollum, Tintins Captain Haddock, & 2005s King Kong -I am excited to learn what roles he will be playing in next years Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: Episode VII). Playing Caesar, the storys main simian protagonist, Serkis made him someone I could really empathize with. His performance shone through, depicting a wide range of human emotions in the face of an ape thanks to the masterful wizards of Weta Digital who handled the facial & motion capture as well as the animation for the hirsute cast. If youve seen the apes in the movie, you wouldnt believe that none of them were real. All of them were digitally created by Weta using perfomances by actors wearing MoCap body suits & facial capture rigs. This technical feat is the reason the films budget is reported at US$170M according to IMDB, money well spent imho. (If you get a chance, check the Interwebs for a fantastic making of featurette showing how Weta created the digital creatures of the film.) Bottom line is that this film isnt for everyone. If you enjoyed 2011s Rise of the Planet of the Apes like I did, this is definitely a must see movie. Fans of good science fiction will also appreciate the world they are weaving while staying true to the essence of the classic source material. If you loved Bays latest Transformers flick, you may want to pass on this movie. :p Until next time... save me a seat!
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 00:38:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015