Review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) by Nola(N)Brams R — 11 Jan 2015

This sequel is less impressive than its predecessor. There's much events that can be predictable, much slow action sequences and the characters are mostly terrible.

The main issue I have with this movie is that there's no clear main character, the movie kept changing focus, and I guess that's the point but it feels stupid. There's also too much focus on the apes and too little on the humans, it's understandable but I want more focus on the humans. More on the characters: there's no chemistry between them and it feels dumb and awful. Another flaw is that I could predict almost every main plot detail in the movie, much more than in Rise of The Planet of The Apes. I also expected a greater soundtrack from Michael Giacchino, who gave us the awesome soundtrack in "Star Trek" (2009) and the TV-show "Fringe". The action is just as the soundtrack: less impressive and less unique. The movie does in fact have some great moments, it do raise even more ethical questions than the previous movie. It also does a great job when it comes to illustrate what no knowledge results into. The movie is also emotional powerful, and the CGI is spectacular. It's much clearer and detailed than in the previous movie. Not flawless though.

The opening scene is exiting and the first act is totally superior over the second and the third. They are predictable, slow and less entertaining. The ending however, could have played out much better. The previous movie was much about science; this however got a more basic tone about survival and coexistence. It's too boring for my taste.

Dawn of The Planet of The Apes gets a 6.8/10.