This is what happens when you have surgery, recuperate then need to dig out from under the pile of work. You plum forget to write a review of a movie that deserves it.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a sequel to 2011s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It is also loosely based on an old chestnut titled Battle for the Planet of the Apes (just as Rise of the Planet of the Apes was loosely based on the oldie Conquest of the Battle of the Apes). This version centers around a community of apes made intelligent by a genetic Alzheimer's cure gone horribly wrong and a small community of humans who are some of the few survivors on Earth of the pandemic caused by the Alzheimer's cure.
So, down to brass tacks...
What the film gets right
Visuals. This film was the maiden voyage for some really advanced motion capture technology and the depiction of the apes with it is incredible. They look natural and real and their movements look right too. The action scenes are also well choreographed and the desolate San Francisco is well rendered
Some of the acting. The acting on the apes side is uniformly strong. Andy Serkis hits a home run with his portrayal of Caesar the ape leader. Other strong played parts include his son, the son of a friend named Ash and his advisor Maurice.
Tone. The movie felt right. There wasn't any inappropriate comedy or out of place shipping or other nonsense. This is a straightforward action science fiction story and it felt like one.
Overall plot and pacing. Overall the story was sound. Things that happened were explained and the pacing was not overly slow or fast. Most of the plot elements were logical as well.
What the film could have done better (to me)
The rest of the acting. As strong as the ape acting was is as weak as the human acting was. The human characters just felt very insubstantial and flat. In fact, they felt GENERIC. I felt nothing towards any of the humans, not caring, not dislike, nothing. Gary Oldman in particular seemed wasted here as he had virtually nothing to do - I suspect he would have been better as the person who befriends Caesar than the actor they had do it was.
Koba. This may take a little explaining. The actor who played Koba did it great. As a standalone villain if we assumed none of the old Planet of the Apes films existed he was a good villain. But to me the CHARACTER lacked nuance. He was flat out evil, not just murdering (and I don't mean in battle I mean flat out murdering) defenseless people but also apes. All he lacked was a moustache to twirl.
I would have preferred Koba to be more nuanced. Have him start out the trustworthy second in command then have him seduced into escalating villany through succumbing to his own ambition and hatred. Then he would have been tragic. In other words pattern him more closely on Aldo from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (his start where he is one of the leaders of Caesar's revolt) to his downfall in Battle for the Planet of the Apes.
"You are no ape". I cringed when Caesar said this to Koba and then let go of his hand, killing him. Caesar's first law was "Ape will never kill ape". Having Caesar do his version of a Hollywood action hero cliche diminished his character, who up to then had been flawlessly conceived and executed.
All in all, this was an outstanding piece of cinema. It comes in second place on my best films of 2014 (the best was Guardians of the Galaxy). It is well worth the watch as it is almost the polar opposite of the "dumb" Hollywood blockbuster and it is honest to goodness Science Fiction!
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a sequel to 2011s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It is also loosely based on an old chestnut titled Battle for the Planet of the Apes (just as Rise of the Planet of the Apes was loosely based on the oldie Conquest of the Battle of the Apes). This version centers around a community of apes made intelligent by a genetic Alzheimer's cure gone horribly wrong and a small community of humans who are some of the few survivors on Earth of the pandemic caused by the Alzheimer's cure.
So, down to brass tacks...
What the film gets right
Visuals. This film was the maiden voyage for some really advanced motion capture technology and the depiction of the apes with it is incredible. They look natural and real and their movements look right too. The action scenes are also well choreographed and the desolate San Francisco is well rendered
Some of the acting. The acting on the apes side is uniformly strong. Andy Serkis hits a home run with his portrayal of Caesar the ape leader. Other strong played parts include his son, the son of a friend named Ash and his advisor Maurice.
Tone. The movie felt right. There wasn't any inappropriate comedy or out of place shipping or other nonsense. This is a straightforward action science fiction story and it felt like one.
Overall plot and pacing. Overall the story was sound. Things that happened were explained and the pacing was not overly slow or fast. Most of the plot elements were logical as well.
What the film could have done better (to me)
The rest of the acting. As strong as the ape acting was is as weak as the human acting was. The human characters just felt very insubstantial and flat. In fact, they felt GENERIC. I felt nothing towards any of the humans, not caring, not dislike, nothing. Gary Oldman in particular seemed wasted here as he had virtually nothing to do - I suspect he would have been better as the person who befriends Caesar than the actor they had do it was.
Koba. This may take a little explaining. The actor who played Koba did it great. As a standalone villain if we assumed none of the old Planet of the Apes films existed he was a good villain. But to me the CHARACTER lacked nuance. He was flat out evil, not just murdering (and I don't mean in battle I mean flat out murdering) defenseless people but also apes. All he lacked was a moustache to twirl.
I would have preferred Koba to be more nuanced. Have him start out the trustworthy second in command then have him seduced into escalating villany through succumbing to his own ambition and hatred. Then he would have been tragic. In other words pattern him more closely on Aldo from Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (his start where he is one of the leaders of Caesar's revolt) to his downfall in Battle for the Planet of the Apes.
"You are no ape". I cringed when Caesar said this to Koba and then let go of his hand, killing him. Caesar's first law was "Ape will never kill ape". Having Caesar do his version of a Hollywood action hero cliche diminished his character, who up to then had been flawlessly conceived and executed.
All in all, this was an outstanding piece of cinema. It comes in second place on my best films of 2014 (the best was Guardians of the Galaxy). It is well worth the watch as it is almost the polar opposite of the "dumb" Hollywood blockbuster and it is honest to goodness Science Fiction!
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The things they got right, the apes....just...incredible. They were flawless, and their interactions were decidedly non-human. They managed to create tension, happiness, sadness, anger and inter-simian culture in such a realistic way that you NEVER once imagined humans playing these parts.