The 2011 release of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was a real game changer for the over thirty year franchise. With the advances in special effects, gone were the days of actors in make-up and costumes, replaced by actors in motion capture suits and then having their ape appearances created in post-production. As much as I enjoyed the original films, I really feel more immersed in the new series, because it's like I'm watching real apes. But besides that, there's real emotion being displayed in this series, thanks in part to Andy Serkis, the actor who portrays ape leader Caesar. Jump to 2014, we see the release of its sequel, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes". While I did worry how I would like the film because the first two trailers didn't really impress me, but the last one really sold me. Now that I've seen it, I can say that this film continues with what makes the first film great, as well as takes on identity of its own.
So let me set things up. It takes place ten years after the first film. Caesar has set up an ape society in the Red Woods outside of San Francisco, while a virus epidemic has nearly wiped out humanity, with a large group of survivors living in what's left of the city. The two societies have lived unbeknownst to each other. With power almost completely gone from the city, a group of humans enter the forest to find a dam that could generate more power for the city. This is when the conflict enters, as the two species finally encounter one another. Malcolm, the main human character, and Caesar, who does not want to start a war with the humans, make an uneasy pact where he would allow the humans to do their work and get power to the city. All the while though, fellow ape Koba wants nothing more than to be rid of the human threat, and is willing to do whatever it takes.
It's really hard to say whether I liked this film more or less than the last one. That's really due to the fact that they're almost like two different kinds of movies. With "Rise", it was more character driven, focusing on Caesar as he rises to power and leads his ape brethren to freedom, with the main action holding on until the climax as they escape to the Red Woods. "Dawn" is packed with a lot more action. However, that's not to say that it doesn't have retain the same emotional investment one would have with the characters, especially with Andy Serkis as Caesar. I really can't say anything about him that hasn't been already.
Of the new characters introduced, I really enjoyed the development of Caesar's son, Blue Eyes. As the son of the society's leader, it seems like he's trying to find his own identity while still living in his father's shadow, which puts them at odds for a good part of the movie. The real divider between them is their feelings towards humans. While Caesar has seen the potential for good in humans, Blue Eyes first experience is when he and Ash, Rocket's son, encounter a group of humans and Ash gets shot. With this experience, it would make sense why Blue Eyes would look more toward Koba for guidance, as Koba has had much harm done to him being a test animal, which is the seed of his hatred for humans.
One of the things that had me on the edge of this film was knowing that at some point, someone is going to do something to really screw things up, leading to war and death. It was just a matter of when the shoe would drop. For example, there's Carver, one of the humans. He kind of trigger happy and has a deep hatred and fear for the apes, blaming them for the epidemic that nearly wiped out humanity. He's actually the one who shot Ash, which makes me wonder why the hell Malcolm brought him along to work on the dam. Hell, he even took digs at both Malcolm and Ellie for loved ones they lost to the virus, and when they tell him to shut up, he responds with, and I paraphrase, "And I'm the asshole." Uh, yes dude. You ARE an asshole. You just insulted a man's dead wife and a woman's dead daughter. You are the personification of an asshole. Seriously, why the fuck did they bring him along? And if you can't hate this guy more enough, he even attacks Casear's new born son, who's just the cutest little thing (I know he's just CGI, but he's still adorable).
But with Carver, he's just an ignoramus. It's Koba who does the most damage, and does it intentionally, and it's what makes him a great villain for the film. You understand his motivations, and it makes you hate him and love to hate him at the same time. While Caesar doesn't want to start a war in fear of losing everything he built in the last ten years and risking apes' lives, Koba is to the other extreme. He just doesn't give a shit about how many apes die, as long as he has vengeance on humanity for all that was done to him. He's even willing to take apes lives that go against him. There's a real emotional part where he orders Ash to kill a defenseless human, but he refuses because it's not what Caesar would do, which leads to Koba throwing Ash off a balcony, killing him in the process.
It's the differences between Caesar and Koba that makes for a great climactic battle. Even while they're fighting, they have good dialogue as well, especially with Caesar's taunts, my favorite one being "Koba belongs in cage." It's those taunts that show Caesar's intelligence, knowing how to get under Koba's skin and make him act even more irrational than he was before. In my opinion, their fight is very similar to Anakin vs. Obi-War in "Revenge of the Sith" and Batman vs. the Mutant Leader in "The Dark Knight Returns."
Like the last film, it does make you feel for the characters, but in a few instances, it somewhat fails to.
The first one is Cornelia, Caesar's mate and Blue Eyes' mother. While Cornelia was introduced briefly in "Rise", she didn't get much attention as characters like Maurice and Rocket; based on the trailer, it looked like there was supposed to be a scene between her and Caesar, but it wasn't in the final cut for some reason. In this film, she is sick from giving birth to her and Caesar's second son. I know we're supposed to worry about her, but given what little we've seen of her, it's kind of hard to when the focus is put on others.
The other character that is hard to feel for is the leader of the human colony, Dreyfus, played by Gary Oldman. There's one scene where after they manage to get power back to the city, his iPad powers up and he looks at pictures of his family, who we're to assume he lost to the virus, moving him to tears. Again, we're supposed to sympathize with him, but we know very little about him. Compare that to a later scene where Caesar finds a camera in his old house and watches an old video of him as a baby with Will, the latter is more emotional because we know how close the two were. Besides that, earlier in the film, he threatens to kill all the apes if Malcolm fails in his mission. Though I guess it depends on who you sympathize more with, the apes or the humans. For me, it's the apes. Caesar said straight out that apes won't fight unless they have to. So when Dreyfuss still feels he'll need to fight after this, he's like Koba in that he's willing to risk lives.
Many have compared this film to "Empire Strikes Back", and it's true in some aspects. It really ups the ante from the last one, but where I think it really compares to "Empire" is that it ends knowing a sequel will happen. In comparison, you can watch "Rise" as a stand-alone film. True, a third film is already in the works, but it's partially a sin to end a film without a real conclusion. Sure, lay hints at something that's to come, but give us some closure on the meantime, and not a "To be continued...". I'm willing to bet that the next one will be called "War for the Planet of the Apes."
I will say though that the film's last moments aren't really original. In fact, there's parallels between that and the end of "Rise". You have the lead human character trying to convince Caesar to run from a coming threat, Caesar stands firm saying he will stay, with his fellow apes rallying to him for guidance. Again, nothing new. It's possible the next one may have a different, and maybe definitive conclusion (if the plan is to be a trilogy that is).
Considering this came out a few weeks after Transformer 4, a terrible film that's somehow making a lot of money, it's nice to watch something that reassures me that there's still quality story telling and worthwhile special effects going into cinema. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is a worthwhile experience. It retains the drama that made the first film great, but if you found that boring, there's plenty of action in this one to keep your attention.
RATING: 8.5/10
I end this with a few disclaimers though:
1. Be prepared to read. Not all the apes have learned to talk, so there's subtitles.
2. Unlike the last film, there's no mid or post credits scene. Found that out the hard way.
Nice review
ReplyDelete