Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will leave you breathless
REVIEW: Whether you attend this movie as a deep thinker or a thrill seeker, Dawn of the planet of the Apes will deliver everything you want.
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IF 2011’s Rise Of the Planet Of the Apes was a game-changer, just wait until you get a load of the sequel.
Nothing less than a remarkable return fixture, Dawn Of the Planet Of the Apes has transferred the game to a bigger stadium, secured you a better seat, and is hellbent on racking up a record score.
Looking back on Rise, it was first and foremost a sci-fi picture.
If you’re looking forward to Dawn, be aware you’ll be experiencing a war picture.
And a surprisingly deep, scrupulously reasoned one at that.
Ten years have passed since the dreaded Simian Flu swept the globe, and reduced all mankind to a 1-in-500 shadow of its former self.
While what’s left of humanity huddles together inside brutally basic refugee strongholds dotted here and there, the apes are evolving from strength to strength.
Under the leadership of esteemed ideologue Caesar (Andy Serkis), the apes can now communicate at speed using a sophisticated sign language.
Some of their number have the ability to grunt out a perfectly legible form of English. Working tribal communities have been established, bringing together a wide array of primate species.
PROFILE: Andy Serkis, the man behind the blockbusters
As a fighting force, the apes are developing strategic brains to match their superior brawn on the battlefield.
The intense action component of Dawn boils down to a conflict taking place in and around the moss-covered ruins of a metropolis that was once San Francisco.
A ragtag human militia needs electricity to guarantee its ongoing survival.
If they can jump-start a nearby hydro-electric dam — located deep inside territory controlled by Caesar and his followers — then mankind’s long road back to civilisation will have become just that little bit shorter.
While a benevolent, pragmatic-thinking Caesar is prepared to allow the humans a shot at plugging back into the grid, an enemy inside his own ranks would rather short-circuit ape-human relations back to the bad old days.
Koba (Toby Kebbell) is not about to forgive nor forget his past as an abused laboratory specimen.
He sees Caesar’s grand conciliatory gesture as a sign of major weakness.
Koba makes a power play for control of the apes, and soon enough, all hell breaks loose.
There can be no denying just how impressive Dawn Of the Planet Of the Apes remains from beginning to end.
Much has already been made of the franchise’s superb use of groundbreaking performance-capture technology to flesh out its simian characters.
While Serkis is an acknowledged master in this rapidly developing field, his ability to have Caesar emote a vast spectrum of feelings and reactions throughout this film is consistently breathtaking.
The scripting is sharp and thematically ambitious for an action-driven production.
The personal and political flashpoints Dawn can often generate either side of the ape-human divide are unfailingly credible and compelling.
So whether you attend this movie as a deep thinker or a thrill seeker, Dawn Of the Planet Of the Apes is going to deliver everything you want.
Originally published as Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will leave you breathless
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