2014: The Year in Film: "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" Review

The first latter-day Planet of the Apes flick was one of the more pleasant surprises in recent years. Even with the presence of a whole lot of James Franco, it was still a surprisingly emotionally effective portrait of Caesar, the legendary founder of the ape world referenced in the original Planet of the Apes, and how he came to be so special. Through Andy "Gollum" Serkis' CGI acting, Caesar came to be as fully realized and likable a character as any live human, so the sequel became one of my more highly anticipated movies of the year.

At the close of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, we saw that the virus responsible for Caesar and the other apes' cognitive development was also lethal to humans and quickly spreading across the globe.  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens with Caesar and his ape society several years later having built a peaceful society all their own in the forests of Northern California. A chance encounter with some humans scouting a nearby dam sets the human colony and the ape colony on an inevitable collision course.

The Good: First, props goes to everyone involved in bringing the apes to life. Sure they are CGI and don't always look as real as they maybe should - BUT THEY ARE 100% CGI and still look pretty damn great. These are characters who barely speak, if they speak at all, and they are wholly realized, developed, and capable of having emotionally resonant moments with one another and with their human counterparts. Special praise, obviously, goes to Andy Serkis as Caesar, who just might be one of the great characters, CGI or otherwise, in film of the last 10 years, (Not an exaggeration) but Maurice is especially endearing for me and Koba makes a pretty damn great villain. The human cast is strong as well, with the criminally underused Jason Clarke (BIG Jason Clarke fan over here, guys) standing out in a role that sees him interacting at least 50% of the time with CGI apes. Gary Oldman does more with his role than a lesser actor might have, and Keri Russell is more than adequate. The post-apocalyptic cityscape of San Francisco is pretty well done, and reminded me of The Last of Us.  But at its heart, this is a flick that's about humanity and apes battling, when we know that apes are going to win, and it still manages to be emotionally affecting, strangely touching, smart, suspenseful and occasionally Shakespearian. That's no small feat, especially for an effects-driven summer tentpole.



The Bad: some of the human characters were wooden and poorly drawn, which seems odd for a flick that gave so much development to CGI apes. The "bad" human at the heart of the onset of human-ape conflict was a caricature of a movie bad guy who seemed whisked right over from the set of The Walking Dead.  Additionally, Gary Oldman seems largely wasted - it seems odd to have an actor of his caliber in what amounts to a small role. The ape scenes are SO much better and more entertaining than the human scenes that we find ourselves rooting for the apes from the onset - which I'm not sure is exactly the point of the Planet of the Apes series.

In all, this is a surprisingly smart and touching summer blockbuster, one in which the action scenes serve a purpose and don't overwhelm everything else that's going on. At its heart, this is a film about Caesar, one charismatic CGI ape, and the best motion-capture acting happening anywhere right now.  This film has a lot to say, even if it's not QUITE as smart as it thinks it is, and I for one can't wait for the next installment.

8.5/10.