Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Part 1

[TheAQU4M4N]

Yeah that's why I think they'll just go the route of having one of Caesar's family bite it.

What if they go after one of the offspring? that would be crazy.

 

[Marvolo]

what you wrotte would be a groundbreaking movie for hollywood standards.

the problem is that Caesar is the main character and they are building a big franchise. at least 5 movies IMO. more money the better. and they need the same character in all movies. they also need Serkis to promote the movie.

Originally this film was set long after the first film and ape society was well established and advanced. It was Matt's idea to set the film so soon after the fist film so he could include Caesar. I just dont expect Caesar to be around for 5 movies. This franchise wont...cant linger in the early days of ape society forever. It needs to push onward and show us their future at some point. Setting the next film in Caesar's lifetime is not going to offer enough new and exciting material. It could only offer more of the same. So I expect the next film to move us down the line a significant amount of time. Besides Apes dont have very long lives. And when you factor in war and lack of our medicine...its highly improbable that Caesar would live more than 10 years after this film's time period. This franchise cant stall in Caesars short lifetime for five films.

 

[redhawk23]

I think Caesar will likely bite it in this one. Particularly since we've been getting imagery of Maurice as the Lawgiver.

 

[addison81]

An Art of book on Rise AND Dawn will be out June 17th.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Apes together strong.

 

[mclay18]

I think Caesar will likely bite it in this one. Particularly since we've been getting imagery of Maurice as the Lawgiver.

That's not going to happen. Fox has plans to use Andy Serkis for at least one more movie.

 

[Incrediblejeff]

He could always play a different character.

 

[Supernova]

I wouldnt have a problem with ceaser biting it in this movie or the next but it will have to happen at some point. I always imagined under ceasers watch that the apes lived in an organized way of life and once he died everything went to hell and we eventually get to what we got in the first with the humans treated like dogs.

 

[bubbadoom]

Saw the new trailer with X-MEN today - happy to say the digital apes looked much better than what I saw on line a few weeks ago - still not as believable as the work in GREYSTOKE for the early '80's but good enough for this digital age...

 

[Gort Baringa]

Greystoke was an exceptional telling of the Tarzan saga! I would have loved to have seen that series continue.

 

[Stryderk]

This actually looks good.

 

[bubbadoom]

Greystoke was an exceptional telling of the Tarzan saga! I would have loved to have seen that series continue.

agreed...

 

[DarkKnight88]

He could always play a different character.

ala Roddy McDowall

 

[DA_Champion]

I can't find the thread for Rise so I'll post my review here.

********************

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: James Franco, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto
Rotten Tomatoes: 82%, 7.1/10, 246 reviews
IMDB: 7.6/10
Grade: A

I rewatched Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) just now as preparation for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). I remembered that the movie was surprisingly good in spite of expecting it to be garbage, and I wanted to refresh my memory.

It's still good on second viewing and mostly survives all of the learning I've done on film in the past year. The plot of Rise begins with Will Rodman (James Franco) building a virus that can potentially treat Alzheimer's disease in the near future, and he's testing it on chimps, who also show somewhat increased intelligence. One of the chimps actually gives birth to a baby chimp for whom we later found out inherited the virus with it coming back stronger. Rodman adopts this chimp, names it Caeser, and as is easy to predict, he eventually becomes the founder of the smarter apes species.

A couple things I noticed on repeat viewings. When Caeser shouts "NO" to a human trying to torment him, it's the first time we hear him speak, and I definitely felt a "wow" moment, it's a sweet plot point. The whole film builds up to it and then when it happens it signifies a phase transition -- the classic example of this is the chest-burster scene in Ridley Scott's Alien, all movies try and do this, most fail, nearly none do as well as Alien, but a few do satisfyingly well and Rise is one of those movies. The scene is then followed up upon in a later moment near the end when Caeser tells Rodman that "Caeser.Is.Home". He's struggling to speak, every word is difficult, but he communicates his point well enough -- Caeser and the other apes belong in the forest, not in captivity in an attic.

I also appreciated the slow pace of the plot. I'm getting burned out from seeing entire cities reduced to ashes, endless action scenes, etc. The action scenes in Rise are small and personal in nature, for example when Caeser escapes the house to help out an elderly Charles Rodman (who was like a grandfather to him) who is being beaten up. Nobody dies, the White House is not destroyed, the action/fighting lasts 60 seconds, yet the whole thing means a lot. The scene ends with Rodman shouting a meaningful "No Caeser!" rather than the trivial sight of one side overpowering the other.

The time earned by not wasting it on action scenes is invested into numerous small character interactions, like when Caeser helps Charles with his fork, Charles' piano-playing arc, and the different development stages of the virus. We're shown a brief 10 second news report of Man's first mission to Mars to let us know that this movie takes place in the near future.

The only part of this movie that bothered me is the character of Steven Jacobs played by David Oyewolo. His primary purpose in the first half of the movie is to prompt for exposition, and in the second half to make stupid decisions that help render the rise of the apes an inevitable result. It's somewhat offensive that they would assign this task onto a black character.

Overall, good, smart movie for a blockbuster, good character moments, maintains some of the political message of the original but presents it in a different manner and different context.

Grade: A

 

[Hulk1968]

I am so looking forward to this film

Loved the first one, too.

 

[redhawk23]

He could always play a different character.

Much as McDowell played Cornelius and Caesar in the original films.

Edit

ala Roddy McDowall

What they said.

 

[redhawk23]

Giacchino previewed part of his score!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP9XfxOU0aA

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=119157

 

[Hurm...]

Awesome. Very old school vibe to it.

 

[terry78]

I never liked that bridge.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Apes on horses! Apes on horses! Apes on horses! Is there anything more awesome than that? The answer is **** no.

 

[Quasimod0]

That will be on my wall.

 

[terry78]

It does have a very 80s vibe to it, don't it? I suspect since none of the actors are really massive A-listers sans maybe Oldman no floating heads or photoshopped people.

 

[JJmelo]

http://otlnews.wordpress.com/2014/0...in-new-dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-poster/

Caesar going straight up Paul Revere style! Pretty epic poster imo. Hope the film can deliver. I thought the first one was magnificent

 

[Kane52630]

The International poster just f*** it up...

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=666039913444265