'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' is a thinking person's fantasy film
One of the better sequels to issue from Hollywood鈥檚 franchise frenzy,聽鈥淒awn of the Planet of the Apes鈥� is a thinking person鈥檚 fantasy film.聽What鈥檚 remarkable about it is that it doesn鈥檛 seem like a fantasy at all.
The film begins in the long aftermath to the ape escape in 2011鈥檚 鈥淩ise聽of the Planet of the Apes,鈥� when a simian virus killed most of Earth鈥檚聽population. Caesar, the hero chimp from that film, is now the head of聽an advanced tribe of apes (and gorillas, orangutans, and bonobos) living聽in the wilds of northern California. A band of human survivors has聽assembled in San Francisco at a weapons armory while attempting to locate聽a dam in ape territory with which they hope to restore power. Interspecies warfare is聽the inevitable result.
Director Matt Reeves and his screenwriters Mark Bomback, Rick聽Jaffa, and Amanda Silver go in for a lot of socially conscious dramaturgy聽about the need for interspecies tolerance, which will probably earn the聽film merit badges from those critics who like their sci-fi accompanied聽by a dollop of instruction. I could have done with a bit less of this, but聽then again, the first (and still arguably the best) of the series, 鈥淧lanet聽of the Apes,鈥� went in for it, too.聽
What鈥檚 striking about this new film is聽that it lays out the message-mongering in such a way that you can enjoy聽the movie equally well on a purely action level. Andy Serkis, who plays聽the worldly-wise Caesar, is extraordinary, as always; so is Toby Kebbell聽as Koba, Caesar鈥檚 human-hating rival. (In joke: Koba was the name聽Stalin assumed for himself in his early party days.) The human players,聽including Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, and Gary Oldman,聽can鈥檛 help but come across as second-best to these apes, as good as those actors are. Whether the apes are聽grunting, speaking in sign language, or talking in English, they rule. Grade: B+ (Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief strong language.)
