I’m honestly a little bit shocked that this movie
exists. Despite how awesome Rise of the Planet of the Apes was, I
don’t remember it being a huge box office success, nor have a heard clamorings
for a sequel, and yet here we are with Dawn
of the Planet of the Apes. And you
know what? It. Is.
Awesome. In a summer where I’ve
had generally positive feelings about almost every blockbuster I’ve seen (not
counting the horrible Godzilla, of
course), Dawn really takes the cake
as a summer action flick. And you know
why? Because it expects its audience to
think, and that’s something one doesn’t see often in cinema between the months
of May and August. This is hard sci-fi
at its best, where the action takes a backseat to the intellectualism and
character drama, and yet still offers some of the most satisfying imagery you’ll
see this summer.
The story picks up ten years after the events of Rise, where the ape Caesar (the only
returning character from Rise) has established a settlement for his ape brethren after the fall of
mankind to the Simian Flu, the same mutagen that endowed the apes with heightened
intelligence. All seems at peace until
the apes discover a band of surviving humans.
It turns out that the humans want only to provide electricity to their
settlement through a dam that is in ape territory. Neither side trusts one another, and yet,
neither side has anything to gain or lose by helping the other. Caesar seems to be the only ape to have
positive memories of the human race, so tensions are high as Caesar's chief general
advocates a preemptive strike. The
humans, meanwhile, stockpile weapons in preparation of an assault, which only
adds to the pressure on the shaky truce the two sides have.
What’s so wonderful about this set-up is that there isn’t
really a bad guy in this scenario. This
is a story about two species trying to co-exist, but their mutual distrust of
one another makes that difficult to realize.
Everyone who plays a key role in the film’s events has clearly defined
reasons for making the decisions they do, and even when a villain does become
apparent, their motives are entirely sympathetic and relatable. This is only further advanced by the fact
that the focus of the film is primarily on the apes and their society, treating
the humans more as plot devices than actual characters. This is not only impressive from a
storytelling perspective, but it also makes the apes seem like a fully
fleshed-out society comprised of thinking individuals, an amazing feat
considering that most speak only in sign-language and at most can grunt words
in broken English. What comes of this is
a thoughtful meditation on the consequences of mutual distrust and how that can
lead to mutual destruction, both from without and within.
But, of course, much of the audience is going to want to see
some intense ape action, and this film has it in spades in the latter
half. Without giving away too much of
the surprise, seeing apes ride on horseback and wield machine guns while still
moving in an apelike fashion is an incredibly fun visual. The ape-on-ape fights are fantastically
choreographed and the final battle is actually quite symbolic of the
contrasting ideologies of the characters fighting one another. The fact that the action works on both a
visual and literary level is very much appreciated.
So, yeah, I absolutely loved Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
It is a thought-provoking science fiction film with plenty of action and
plenty of smart writing to balance it out.
Seeing Rise of the Planet of the
Apes is recommended, but not necessary for fully enjoying this sequel, and
I’m sincerely hoping for a hat-trick with a third Apes prequel in the coming years.
Have a favorite Planet
of the Apes film? Let me know in the
comments below.
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