Review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) by Gene R — 21 Feb 2016

This was an incredibly emotional and moving story about family, hope, betrayal, redemption, forgiveness, and above all, love. Andy Serkis is by far the best motion-capture artist there has ever been. If this performance does not FINALLY culminate in at LEAST an Oscar nomination for him this year, I will be incredibly disappointed.

Simply put, Andy carries this movie. He receives top billing on every marquee I've seen promoting this movie -- not to mention the credits -- and rightfully so. But the real story here is how Andy as Caesar deals with the first real "human" challenge he's had to face since the simian flu all but wiped out the human population on the planet at the end of the last Apes movie.

I read a review prior to seeing this movie that said something to the effect that "Dawn" does for "Rise" what "Empire Strikes Back" did for "Star Wars." After having seen the film, I would have to agree.

Fantastic!