Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Part 2

[terry78]

I don't think it really dates considering he'll probably be the last black potus for a long while, and it'll give people decades down the line an idea of the time period we're in. Hell, I like watching flicks from the 30s featuring clips of people during that era.

 

[Golgo-13]

The climactic fight between

Spoiler

Caesar and Koba

was amazing on its own. It's hard to think of another climactic fight in film that I've been so emotionally attached to in recent years. Visually it was stunning, and it had enough build up behind it to hook me in.

This. Especially since Koba saves Caesar from the grizzly at the beginning.

This aspect of the film reminds me of the one between Anakin and Obi Wan in EPIII; were as at the beginning of the film, they were as close as brothers, but by films end, they were mortal enemies.

 

[kedrell]

http://badassdigest.com/2014/07/23/...-character-the-two-movies-within-dawn-of-the/
Published July 23, 2014 by Film Crit Hulk
Film Crit Hulk Smash: STORY VS. CHARACTER - THE TWO MOVIES WITHIN DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Hulk breaks down the problems he sees with this month's big blockbuster.

Very interesting and he makes quite a few valid points. Personally I wouldn't say it's so much that the apes have a story and the humans don't. Instead I'd say it's more than the apes have an interesting story of the birth of a new civilization and many of the attendant "firsts" that come with it(first experience with education, government, betrayal, murder, ambition, etc.) while the humans have a tired old story of a post-apocalyptic type.

Of course the less explored story will be more appealing. Other than Apocalypto(and that's only sort of like this film in small parts) I can't think of a movie in the last 20 years that explores this subject much at all.

New and unfamiliar territory with regards to storytelling will just naturally trump the old and well trodden.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Koba fight for Koba! Koba belong in cage!

 

[Etienne]

This. Especially since Koba saves Caesar from the grizzly at the beginning.

This aspect of the film reminds me of the one between Anakin and Obi Wan in EPIII; were as at the beginning of the film, they were as close as brothers, but by films end, they were mortal enemies.

Great comparison. One aspect that the prequels really nailed, the relationship between Anakin and Obi Wan. Makes it all the more emotional when the two become enemies. What a turning point that was when Caesar notices Koba right before he shoots him. This movie had tension in spades.

 

[Legendver2]

Did anybody noticed that the symbol for the ape society is derived from the window that Caesar looks out of in the attic from Rise? When I noticed that, it hit me like a rock

 

[kedrell]

Yeah, I picked up on that right away since he uses that symbol in Rise when he goes to chimp jail.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I'm surprised that symbol isn't on T-shirts everywhere.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Just saw this. I love this movie. It is well made. I have many more thoughts, but right now I really can't put it into words.

 

[DA_Champion]

Very interesting and he makes quite a few valid points. Personally I wouldn't say it's so much that the apes have a story and the humans don't. Instead I'd say it's more than the apes have an interesting story of the birth of a new civilization and many of the attendant "firsts" that come with it(first experience with education, government, betrayal, murder, ambition, etc.) while the humans have a tired old story of a post-apocalyptic type.

Of course the less explored story will be more appealing. Other than Apocalypto(and that's only sort of like this film in small parts) I can't think of a movie in the last 20 years that explores this subject much at all.

New and unfamiliar territory with regards to storytelling will just naturally trump the old and well trodden.

But as he points out, the human characters don't even have character arcs.

 

[Deserana]

Saw it this evening. Loved it but not quite as much as Rise. However, on a visual level and simply expanding an already rich world it's outstanding. The strong points were definitely apes and as probably mentioned Caeser just kicks serious behind. Koba however oh so close and Kebbel was wonderful as someone who has followed him in the UK he could easily be the next big thing.

I was a little disappointed about half way as I was expecting a bit more action due to the trailers but when I remembered that Rise was essentially the same (no action till the last half hour) I started to really enjoy it

Some of the camera work too caught my eye, like the scene with Koba on the tank and Malcolm making his way back with surgical supplies with that long take as action is happening around him.

It did have some faults though. For some reason I couldn't get over the CGI of Caeser's son. Unlike the others something about him just didnt look real it always felt like a special effect. And aside from Malcolm and slightly Oldman I didn't really care for the humans but I dont think we were ever really meant to.

The other thing that irked me (I'll stray from specifics) is the trope of a character being quite badly injured and in 5 seconds seemingly the ultimate immortal badass fighter. But again in the wider scale of issues I've had with other films this year*ahem*Transformers*ahem* that's nothing.

But overall another great outing for this consistently surprising franchise, I wasn't on the boards for Rise but was anyone ever expecting the franchise to be arguably the best around outside of CBMs?

 

[-Arya-]

Just saw this tonight. Significantly better than Rise. In fact, those comparisons to Dawn being The Dark Knight or The Empire Strikes Back of the franchise is astute. From a technical standpoint, this movie is outrageously beautiful and it aided in making the Apes the most compelling, sympathetic characters I have seen in a long time. The movie isn't perfect by any means - the human characters are the weakest link and the plot is fairly linear - but none of that detracts the movie as a whole. It was still tense, exciting, and emotional.

9/10

 

[Aesop Rocks]

"The humans are the weakest link".

Yeah, because it's DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.

 

[kedrell]

But as he points out, the human characters don't even have character arcs.

That's not their function in the movie so they don't need them. As he says, they're there to be a counter point and to create dramatic irony. Make no mistake, this is the apes show and I'm sure that was intentional as their story will by it's very definition be new and interesting compared to the same old story of the human characters.

 

[-Arya-]

"The humans are the weakest link".

Yeah, because it's DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.

Doesn't matter. At least attempt to make them somewhat interesting. Most of them were as stale as the humans in Godzilla.

 

[Flint Marko]

Not all of them were all that compelling, I'll give you that, but I found Malcolm and his son to be interesting. I enjoyed the parallels that were present between them and Caesar with his son.

 

[DA_Champion]

That's not their function in the movie so they don't need them. As he says, they're there to be a counter point and to create dramatic irony. Make no mistake, this is the apes show and I'm sure that was intentional as their story will by it's very definition be new and interesting compared to the same old story of the human characters.

But the writers actually did try to make the humans interesting, they just failed.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I found the human story compelling, but then again I think that was because they A) acted the hell out of it, and b) I found it very easy to sympathize with their fair of the apes do the amazing CGI. They were terrifying at times. Koba, all the time.

 

[jmc]

I think there is a valid point that the humans are undercooked, however I think it may have been intentional as to not have the audience be cheering on one side or the other, because ultimately there are no good guys or bad guys in the film, just two species who mistrust one another. If we delve deeper into the humans troubles they become far more sympathetic and the apes become evil aggressors.

 

[-Arya-]

I think there is a valid point that the humans are undercooked, however I think it may have been intentional as to not have the audience be cheering on one side or the other, because ultimately there are no good guys or bad guys in the film, just two species who mistrust one another. If we delve deeper into the humans troubles they become far more sympathetic and the apes become evil aggressors.

I disagree; there doesn't need to be a struggle in the filmmakers' mind about how to make one species more sympathetic than the other. With the proper writing, if they did go deeper into the human relationships, it would have made the interactions between human and ape that much more powerful.

 

[Golgo-13]

It did have some faults though. For some reason I couldn't get over the CGI of Caeser's son. Unlike the others something about him just didnt look real it always felt like a special effect. And aside from Malcolm and slightly Oldman I didn't really care for the humans but I dont think we were ever really meant to.

This. I thought i was the only one who thought this. All the apes F/X wise looked great; there was just something off about Caesars son's face; that it took me out of any scene he was in. I think it was the fact that he looked a little too feminine; the shot of him in the trailer - where he's holding the gun - i actually thought that was a female ape before i saw the film; that was the scene when he discovers Malcolm hiding in the house. So i think the issue was he looked a little too much like a female ape, when what i assume they were going for, was an ape that was a younger version of Caesar.

 

[jmc]

I disagree; there doesn't need to be a struggle in the filmmakers' mind about how to make one species more sympathetic than the other. With the proper writing, if they did go deeper into the human relationships, it would have made the interactions between human and ape that much more powerful.

I'd also make the argument that this isn't a story about humans, this is about another species becoming more like humans. Who the humans aren't nearly as important as who the apes are in this narrative, and as such they are playing background roles whereby we get snippets of information and not much more. Again, I think it's an intentional choice to focus on the apes as to give the two sides balance for the audience, let's not forget the apes have it good compared to what the humans have, humans are the weaker of the two species and if we see their struggles or the hardships they've gone through via their interactions with other humans the tone of the film changes dramatically and the audience shifts from being on the fence the entire time to being firmly on the side of the humans.

 

[-Arya-]

I'd also make the argument that this isn't a story about humans, this is about another species becoming more like humans. Who the humans aren't nearly as important as who the apes are in this narrative, and as such they are playing background roles whereby we get snippets of information and not much more. Again, I think it's an intentional choice to focus on the apes as to give the two sides balance for the audience, let's not forget the apes have it good compared to what the humans have, humans are the weaker of the two species and if we see their struggles or the hardships they've gone through via their interactions with other humans the tone of the film changes dramatically and the audience shifts from being on the fence the entire time to being firmly on the side of the humans.

If we speak about the beginning portions of the movie, I would completely understand the intention, but by the end things are different. Maybe this is just my idealized view where I could be completely off base, but I still think it's possible to generate a better story in which the humans are given a little more material to match the Apes. With that in my mind, if we follow the events of the film throughout, watch the decisive moment when [BLACKOUT]Koba betrayed Caesar[/BLACKOUT] and see the situation that followed, it would heavily reinforce the connection Caesar has with humans (i.e it would be a more powerful moment if the humans were fleshed out a bit). The Apes in this movie weren't a homogeneous group; Koba and many others clearly had radically different ideas about how to live compared to Caesar, and I think the audience is perceptive enough to notice the good guy, bad guy dichotomy doesn't exactly correspond to what's happening on screen. I hope that made sense

 

[747]

RISE was a positive surprise, DAWN is a notch up in almost every area.

Carefully crafted and with a very emotional approach; as a modern tentpole it feels quite rare.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I don't know why I wasn't looking forward to DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES more, given how much I enjoyed RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES a couple of years back. But for some reason, this sequel-to-the-kinda-prequel seemed to sneak up on me. Maybe it was down to the departure of director Rupert Wyatt, with me unsure if replacement Matt Reeves could recapture the same lightning in a bottle. I needn't have worried, as DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is a thrilling film which stays true to the spirit of its predecessor while suitably advancing the mythos forward.

We fast forward 10 years in time from the previous chapter to find that the simian flu has wiped out most of the humans on Earth. A group of the few that remain cross paths with Caesar's super-smart ape community on the outskirts of San Francisco, the humans' need for a vital energy-providing dam in the middle of the apes' safe haven setting the two factions on a collision course. As the path moves inexorably towards war, the narrative deftly sets things up so there isn't a clear "good guy side" and "bad guy side" between the apes and the humans. Instead, both sides have honorable, good elements and violent, war-hungry individuals, and even at that the antagonistic forces on each side are given, to a degree, justifiable reasons for their hostility rather than just being painted as villains.

The film does have its flaws. The plot, when you get down to it, is pretty slight, lacking the scope and arc of RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. And the supporting cast feel thinly drawn, particularly on the human side. After blowing us away with her nuanced work on TV's THE AMERICANS, it's a shame to see Keri Russell reduced to playing the love interest who mainly just rubs her man's shoulder supportively and looks sad. And Gary Oldman barely gets any time to register as the Koba of the human side, though he does wring out some powerful acting in a few fleeting moments of development.

But it's in the characterisation of the leads that DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES marks itself as a standout. Jason Clarke - an understated actor more often relegated to supporting roles - excels in a more prominent part here, more than adequately replacing James Franco as our human surrogate. But again, this film belongs to Andy Serkis. Here taking his rightful first-billed leading role slot, he gives an incredible, immersive performance as Caesar, with the biggest compiment I can give to it being that you rarely if ever consider that this is actually Andy Serkis in a mocap suit. It IS a highly intelligent, talking ape, with nobility and decency and the strain of caring for his people written on his face. It's a powerhouse performance, and again, it's such a shame this is the kind of stuff the Academy typically turns its nose up at. Also impressive is Toby Kebbell as Caesar's menacing second-in-command Koba. Those worrying about Kebbell's ability to pull off Dr. Doom in that upcoming FANTASTIC FOUR movie may find some reassurance in him playing one of the year's most compelling antagonists here.

It's unfortunate that the official story of summer 2014 in the trades seems to be what a disappointment it's been, due to a drop in box office takings. As there have actually been some gems during this blockbuster season, and DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES joins them, showing that RISE was no fluke and that this PLANET OF THE APES reboots has surprisingly emerged as one of the smartest and most soulful of all the current ongoing blockbuster franchises. Rest assured I won't be letting the inevitable third film take me by surprise.