Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

May be the 2nd best movie that has Gary Oldman as a leader in post apocalyptic world where he wears glasses and hopes to gain more power. He is more likeable in here mind you.

I liked Dawn better than Rise. And first off let me say I keep confusing the titles, It seems like something that RISES should come AFTER the DAWN but that’s me.

Rise, the one with James Franco suffered from too much cartoonish CG in my opinion. The strongest part of that movie was John Lithgow. There was also a few bits played for laughs. Not so in Dawn. There is one bit but it’s not played for laughs really, it’s about cold calculating, what humans expect to see from Apes versus what they’ve become.

Dawn is a much more serious, depressed movie, it should be, 10 years after the Simian Flu and wars have reduced the human population to scattered remnants. The bigger share of the POV is the apes and that’s a good decision. Humans are the interlopers here and all the apes initially wanted (well most of them anyway) was to be left in peace. Of course that’s not gonna happen or we wouldn’t get a film. You get a sense of inevitability and dread throughout, who’s gonna fuck it up. 

The movie has also some gorgeous visuals, Post Apocalyptic San Francisco, well on its way to be reclaimed by nature. Ape City which is still a hive or a nest. Both feel real, lived in. 

Aside from Gary Oldman, Keri Russell (looking well toned) and Andy Serkis (Caesar) most of the actors are unknown (Well Kirk Acevedo if you’re into Fringe and The Walking Dead and sidenote he plays an asshole again, albeit a scared one) and again that’s a good thing.

The themes of this movie are similar to the Battle for the Planet of the Apes (the last of the original 5 apes film), a mutiny, a war between the remnants of humanity and the apes (but you feel so much more for the humans than you did in Battle. Koba keeps making the wrong choices and you see him dragging Caesar’s son with him until he begins to think on his own

I really liked Caesar’s return to Will’s house. We’re left wondering what happened to Will, did he survive the plague, was he immune? Did he die in the wars? Whatever happened he’s not home.

And nice callback to the original films with the orangutan teaching the younglings Apes Shall not Kill Ape (albeit more crudely)

So I really liked it but something kept me back from enjoying it more…