DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

In 1968, Charlton Heston starred as an astronaut in Planet Of The Apes, who crash lands on a distant planet where apes are the rulers and humans are enslaved. Almost 50 years later, it's still remembered as one of Heston's greatest roles, mainly because of his line, 'Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!'. 33 years later, visionary director Tim Burton remade it with Mark Wahlberg taking over Heston's role. Unfortunately, it failed to impress critics and audiences and, for a while, the Planet Of The Apes films remained a dead end until 2011, when director Rupert Wyatt reimagined the story and, by using motion capture, the film, titled Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, was an improvement over Burton's 2001 remake. It was set on Earth and focused more on the apes themselves, rather than showing them from a human's point of view. Because of this, we understood the apes' actions rather than seeing them as evil. Rise ended with the leading ape, Caesar (Andy Serkis), joining his fellow apes in a revolution against the humans.

The sequel, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, takes place a decade later after the events in Rise, with the human population having decreased massively due to the disease that spread. However, the humans that survived live in a fragmented, primitive society, lead by Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) and Malcolm (Jason Clarke). Their main goal is to restore power, unfortunately, the area is surrounded by apes, lead by Caesar. There is a major conflict between the two species, however, Caesar is more trusting of the humans and allows them to work on getting the power back in the city. Koba (Toby Kebbell) is an ape that was tested in the laboratory and is less trusting. This leads to the increasing conflict between apes and human that soon leads to an all out fight between the two species.

In a lot of ways, Dawn is an improvement over Rise. The story is a lot darker and Caesar has developed into a leader. The special effects are also more impressive as every ape looks real rather than an actor in unconvincing costume and make-up. 

Most films that feature conflict feel forced, however, in Dawn, we understand the conflict because of the events of Rise. Because of how they were treated by humans, apes now see them as nothing more than a threat to their kind. However, because Caesar was raised by humans, he knows that they're not  all evil and sees good in Malcolm, who wants nothing more than to fix the power. Unfortunately, Dreyfus doesn't feel the same way and would rather have every ape dead. The majority of the tension is driven by the conflict between the two species and is effective as we never know what's going to happen next. This leads to an unpredictable narrative that is both thrilling and intense. 

The majority of action films released focus more on the special effects rather than telling an involving story with interesting characters. Fortunately, the same cannot be said for Dawn. From the beginning to the end, it never fails to lose our interest. Caesar's character is an interesting individual as, since Rise, he has developed into a leader and has also become a father to two sons, the oldest being Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston) who, like Koba, is less trusting of the human race. Like Caesar, Malcolm has a family including his son, Alexander (Kobi Smit-McPhee), and his wife, Ellie (Keri Russell), who is Alexander's stepmother and has her own personal losses. Because they know of the possibilities that they could lose their families, Caesar and Malcolm become allies during the fight that break outs between the apes and humans towards the end of the film.

Rise was previously directed by Wyatt and he was originally going to direct Dawn, unfortunately, because of the May 2014 release date, he believed he wouldn't be given enough time to make the film properly. He was soon replaced by Matt Reeves, who is best known for his monster-based horror, Cloverfield. Reeves proved to be a good choice as he has successfully created a film that is an improvement on its predecessor. He clearly understood the characters and narrative and managed to follow it up. 

The performances are just as strong as the ones that featured in Rise. Previously, Jason Clarke was best known for his supporting roles in films such as Zero Dark Thirty and The Great Gatsby. However, he takes on the leading human role effectively and he proves that he can handle dramatic roles in big blockbuster action films. Because of his performance in Dawn, this lead to more leading roles in films such as Everest and Terminator Genisys. Both Keri Russell and Kodi Smit-McPhee both give solid performances as does Gary Oldman who, at first, seems like a one-dimensional ape-hating human, however, at a point in the film, we see him tearing up at old pictures of his deceased family and we learn he has his reasons for hating the apes.

However, out of all the performances, the stand out is Andy Serkis as Caesar. The actor is best known for his motion capture roles for iconic characters such as Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings franchise and the giant titular gorilla in King Kong. He seems to be the go-to actor for motion capture as he has also featured in Steven Spielberg's 2011 family film, The Adventures Of Tintin, where he portrayed Captain Haddock. These roles prove how much work he puts into them, both mentally and physically, and why he's one of the most talented actors working today. I doubt the film would have been as effective without his performance as Caesar.

In a way, both Rise and Dawn could be viewed as prequels to the original Planet Of The Apes as the human race becomes enslaved and the apes soon begin to rule over them. Rather than being set on a distant planet, the films could be suggesting that Earth will soon become the 'planet of the apes'. It's an interesting theory that will most likely be explored in the upcoming sequel, War Of The Planet Of The Apes which sees a huge war breakout between the apes and humans. 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes expands on its predecessor with an exciting and ambitious burst of sci-fi achievement. This is because it features intelligence and emotional resonance to match its stunning special effects and another outstanding performance from Andy Serkis as the leader of the apes, Caesar.

8/10