Review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) by Ryan H — 12 Jan 2015

Sequels are always a gamble. There have been some really great second installments in film franchises, but usually, you end up with something like "Donnie Darko 2" and "Jarhead 2" (seriously, that's a thing.) Now add to that the huge amount of terrible reboots of old franchises, and you've got some huge odds to overcome, especially considering that "The Planet of the Apes" was ALREADY the victim of a reboot in the early 2000's at the hands of Tim Burton, which we are all trying to forget.

Somehow, some way, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was able to overcome those obstacles a few years ago, owing much to the motion capture performance of Andy Serkis and the sensitive performance by James Franco. Thankfully, those odds were overcome yet again by the production of a worthwhile sequel in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.".

The origin story of Cesar which was the focal point of the first film, and is what made that film so compelling, continues in "Dawn," set about a decade after the events of the first movie. The Simian virus has wiped out the vast majority of the human race, leaving only small pockets of people surviving on what fuel reserves they have left (and a mountain of machine guns.) The apes have set up shop in the forests surrounding San Francisco, and for the most part, the two groups have managed to leave each other alone and live in relative peace. That is, until man's resources grow slim, and the only hope for regaining power (literally and figuratively) rests in the hydroelectric dam that also happens to be in the apes' back yard. The two groups clash, there's dissension in the ranks, and voila, you have yourself a movie.

The crown jewel of this series has been Andy Serkis (made famous by playing Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings") and his performance capturing Cesar, the first hyper-intelligent ape. This film gets to explore much more of the dynamic between the apes and their society- how the hierarchy has formed and how they are trying their best to survive and find peace. Cesar's second-in-command, that mangy looking ape named "Koba" from the first film, plays a much larger role, and their relationship is the most fascinating part of the film.

On the human side of things, there is no more James Franco, but rather a fellow named Malcolm played by Jason Clarke (the car maintenance shop owner in "The Great Gatsby.") He is our audience surrogate, and provides our human perspective. He doesn't have as much charisma as Franco, but that's not to say he gave a poor performance. On the contrary, he makes for a very likable and selfless hero, seeking to find a peaceful resolution with the apes where everybody wins. There's also a little bit of Gary Oldman, sort of the "town mayor" of humansville. I like Gary Oldman, but this role seemed to be mostly him just yelling things like "keep calm!" and "We only have two weeks of fuel left!" and "shoot them!" The role could have been played by almost anybody... I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing for Gary. Also, Keri Russell is in it. *shrugs*.

This is a fun sequel, and although not as emotionally satisfying as the first film, it still makes for an enjoyable viewing experience. Really, when you get down to it, you see this movie because at some point, you know there are going to be apes riding horses and dual-wielding machine guns. APES ON HORSES WITH MACHINE GUNS. Duh, right? I'm excited for a third installment, in which hopefully they'll keep the magic going. With apes on horses.

With machine guns.

�������� (4/5 stars).