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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

thereviewers
Jul 26, 2015
3 min read

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the 2014 sequel to the 2011 Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which is set in the year 2026 in which humanity has been pushed to near extinction by a deadly virus. When a group of survivors, desperate to find a new power source, venture into the woods near San Francisco they discover a highly evolved community of intelligent apes led by Caesar (Andy Serkis). The two species form an uneasy alliance but when dissention grows, they will soon find themselves heading towards an all out war.

Overall Review Score

7.5 out of 10

Review

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is an sci-fi drama set ten years after the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Similar to its predecessor it is a film that can easily be divided into two halves, with two distinct lighting and feel. The first half of the film attempts to explain, albeit rather unsuccessfully, the humans hatred of apes and how the ALZ-113 caused a worldwide pandemic, it features mainly bright, airy colours in the Ape redwood forest and dark colours in the Human encampment in San Francisco. While the second half of the film focuses on internal ape politics (monkey business if you will) between Caesar (Andy Serkis) and Koba (Toby Kebbell) and the eventual battle between humans and apes, it features dark brooding colours, an up-tempo musical score, and flashbacks from Rise of the Planet of the Apes to play on the audiences emotions. Away from the tell of two-halves, the acting and special effects are extremely appeasing. Andy Serkis’s portrayal of Caesar, most notably, is as mesmerising, if not more so, than the first instalment, he subtly blends together the intricacies of Caesar’s back-story and raw, emotional fondness of humans with a hard, sharp commanding presence. However, despite the good acting and special effects, the script feels overtly far-fetched and predictable in places, it does flow as well as Rise of the Planet of the Apes and leaves the audience wanting more...which is further enhanced by the film ending, seemingly deliberately, on a cliff-hanger. Overall, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a visually stunning, high-octane movie that builds upon its predecessors nicely. However, it suffers from a couple of major set-backs and lacks the momentum, enjoyment and audience connectivity as its predecessor.

Reviewer 1's score & comments:

Score: 8 out of 10

Comments:

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a decent sequel to the Rise of the Planet of the Apes that utilises some fantastic CGI, and really makes the audience care for the desperate group of human survivors as well as the intelligent apes. However, while the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes wields the CGI and special effects with fantastic results the film is ultimately let down by its highly coincidental and infrequently farfetched story ideas. Without spoiling anything there is not very much I can say to outline these points but one thing that really stood out for me is several clips of apes riding horses.

Reviewer 2's score & comments:

Score: 7 out of 10

Comments:

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a film that tried so hard to live up to Rise of the Planet of the Apes. While the film was reasonably enjoyable and could had the potential to be as good its predecessor, it was let down by a slightly convoluted script that was riddled with clichés and the occasional moment of predictability. For example, it was clear when watching the film that the human/ape alliance – fragile as it was – would fall and that Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Caesar (Andy Serkis) while initially timid enemies would become friends by the end of the film. Additionally, it was let down by the fact it assumed the audience would have watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes previously, which is a big assumption to make and could have easily been resolved if the writers replaced the virus montage, at the start of the film, with a 5-minute explanatory flashback. Overall, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes features all the fast-paced, visually pleasing special effects and powerful acting, especially from Andy Serkis, that you would expect from the Planet of the Apes series. However, its script was mediocre at best, which caused the film to come across as uncoordinated and rather ill thought-out in places.