100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 91: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Director: Matt Reeves

Genre: Drama/ Action/ Adventure

Runtime: 130 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Calrke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Judy Greer

Description: In the wake of a disaster that changed the world, the growing and genetically evolving apes find themselves at a critical point with the human race.

 

Review: In “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” it’s ten years later then the happenings in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”. Almost all of mankind was wiped out due to a deadly virus. While the survivors are trying to rebuild their lives, they didn’t have any contact with the apes. And vice versa. They are almost out of power and they have to search for a power source. While they are looking for that, they cross the territory of the apes. And the apes have evolved further and their population has grown.

Leader of the group is Caesar, who we saw in the previous film bonding with a human. He hasn’t lost complete trust in humans en he wants them to live a life of peace, no war between people and apes. Caesar is even willing to help them, but not all the apes in his group feel the same way. One of them, Koba, has lost all his faith in humanity and is willing to fight for survival.

In “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” they use the performance capture technique. It amazes me that there were no real apes in this film, that’s how real they look. Every expression and movement looks realistic. This film has great visual effect.

Andy Serkis, who plays the role of Caesar, has worked with this technique many times. And as always, he’s the expert. He does an amazing job and you really empathize with Caesar. And the bond that is built between the apes and some of the humans is very convincing and it really touches you. In “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” there is not one bad side, it’s a two way street. The moral is that you should never totally focus on one side of a story.

This movie, directed by Matt Reeves, is worth your time. It looks amazing and is very exciting and touching. If I have to choose between “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, I can’t.

Rating: 4,5/ 5