Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

I had never seen any of the other Planet of the Apes movies before I went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011. I had heard of them and I knew what they were about resulting in me being very excited for the new release. Then when I found out about a SEQUEL I got all excited again and I wasn't disappointed. 

I went to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes yesterday. I thought it was a brilliant movie. There was a lot of hype for this movie and a lot of high expectations after the masterpiece of the first one. The first movie was based heavily on the relationship between Caesar and Will for the first half. This gave the characters depth and you felt for them. (I'm sure I wasn't the only person who shed a tear when he was taken in to lock up.) This is why I feel we can't compare the two movies. 

The second one is set ten years after the first. The whole dynamics have changed. The whole set up has changed. Will is no longer a part of Caesar's life and we have to draw our own conclusions of what happened to him (unless I missed something). Caesar is now the leader of a whole tribe of apes. He has a lot of respect from them all, especially the ones he helped escape from the lock up. 

The humans have mostly been wiped out by a virus created by the scientists in the first movie (we saw someone die from this in the first movie). There are very few humans left and they are running out of power. 

A group of humans go up to find an old dam that they can use to generate power, unfortunately this is where the apes live and this is where they cross paths. 

The humans are scared of the apes in this movie and the apes are just as scared as the humans. Neither one understands the other.  This movie isn't about making the apes smarter and being their friends it is about the apes been strong and feared by most of the remaining population. 

You expect when you go to see this movie to see some sort of fighting because that is the next step. The apes are stronger in mind and numbers and the humans are scared. They live in fear and see the apes as the enemy. The apes don't feel safe with humans close just like the humans don't feel safe with the apes close. 

Just because there is a lot of action and fighting (and guns) it doesn't mean there is no story line. There are some moments that will make your jaw drop, like hit the floor drop. It is very driven by the characters because the apes are humanised by their characteristics and they become people whose actions you understand. There is a hint of humor but it is taken very seriously so the humor is rare. 

It does make you think. Like about how the minority do spoil it for the majority. That is a very big thing in this movie. At some moments I felt like saying 'just sit down and talk!' Both sides wanted the same thing but they were never going to get there. 

The apes in this movie were done fantastically. The fact that someone played the apes really is fascinating. Apes are scary in themselves. They are big strong animals who can cause a lot of damage to humans without the help of anything. The makers of this movie knew that and showed that. It would have been easy to over dramatise them and add false mannerisms but they didn't. I know if I came face to face with an ape as big as me I would be running in the other direction whether they had a machine gun or not. 

All in all I thought it was a very good movie and I would recommend going to see it if you liked the first one but don't expect something as cute and sweet as the first one. 

Legend - Marie Lu

I just finished this book this week and it is one of my favourites this year. 

It is a dystopian. It follows a criminal called Day, who is the most wanted criminal in the area. It also follows a girl called June, who is very privileged and scored a perfect score on the trial all the ten year olds have to take. 

Very early in the book Day does something causing June to be set on his trail. The book follows the two of them each going for a target. June's target is Day and Day's target is a cure for his ill brother. Day is very streetwise and lives on the street, he has his own ways of surviving and I personally loved his character. June is trained to do anything, she is very intelligent and notices small things other people wouldn't see. 

There is a lot of twists and turns and the 'government' is very interesting. You learn a lot about them as the story goes on and although the government having secrets has been done lots before, this time it isn't predictable stuff. I was left shocked a lot throughout the whole book. 

It is the first book in a trilogy so a lot of this book is setting it up and giving you a good vibe of the characters. Marie Lu does this very well and I feel like I know these characters better than others from longer books. 

It says on the front 'for fans of The Hunger Games'. I don't think this is necessarily true unless liking a dystopian means you will like all dystopians. I personally couldn't see any connections between the two. Also on the back it says it is a retelling of Les Mis. I, again, couldn't see the connection but I am very excited about seeing the connection in the coming books. I think if it is a retelling it is a very original version. 

Let me know what you thought of this book. I have already ordered the second one, Prodigy, which is at a very good prices of £3.49 on the book people at the moment if anyone is interested. 

#T5WFamily - BOOK PARENTS/PARENTAL FIGURES

Hello! This is my first 'Top 5 Wednesday' so this is a little exciting! For me books are the characters, a great story line is good too but if the characters are rubbish I lose interest quickly. So here goes!

5. Macon - Beautiful Creatures - I feel if you've read the book you will understand this but I can't really say much with out giving a spoiler away. I just liked how he was with Lena. Although lets not forget his dress sense and his house!

4. Hans Hubermann - The Book Thief - I think Hans is the cutest parental figure on this list. I think he makes Liesel's experience the best he can. He really cares for her like she is his own.

3. Dumbledore - Harry Potter - How he treats Harry is so heart warming. I watched the third movie the other day and cried when Harry wasn't aloud to go to Hogsmeade, it hit me all at once that Harry lost his parents and didn't have anyone that cared enough about him to sign his consent slip. That got me thinking of Dumbledore and he really does do a lot for Harry and for all his students.

2. Mrs Weasley - Harry Potter - I think I speak for most when I say I would love to be a house guest of hers! She's so cool yet let's you know what she's thinking or feeling.

1. Henry - I am Number Four - I don't know what it was about him but he really stole my heart. How protective he was yet not smothering. How he cared but didn't care for the teenage "drama". I think his background played a bit part in this too.

I think I'm going to break the rules a bit here and do my top five for movies as well as I LOVE movies just as much as books.

5.  Will Rodman - Rise of the Planet of the Apes - He is SUCH a good dad to Caesar! I like how he treats him like a human. I love the bit when Caesar asks who his dad is and what he is, I think it's really cute and I think Will handles it really well.

4. Professor X/Charles Xavier - X-men movies - This is more of from the first class spin off. I like how he takes all the kids in under his wing. I like his relationship with Raven too even though that is more like an older brother yet still a bit of a parental figure there.

3. Jackie Elliot - Billy Elliot - Again I don't want to give away any spoilers but how he deals with each bit of news throughout the movie. Let's face it he goes through a lot and the writer didn't shy away from letting him give a very real reaction when in stressful times.

2. Frosty - Chasing Mavericks - This movie itself was pure amazing. Frosty is such a diverse character. I think the fact he didn't want to help Jay at first made me like him more. It made it more realistic.

1. Ray - War of the Worlds - This one is a bit strange because he's not really a good dad for most of the movie and even at the end you don't see much of him being a good dad. I just really liked his character and how cool but uncool he was.

I hope you enjoyed my lists! I'm hoping to put pictures in my future posts I just didn't have much time today. I'm going to link the list of other people taking part in the top 5 wednesdays so you can go check everyone else out.

Thank you for reading :)!

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1608567-complete-list-of-wednesday-ers      <--- T5WFamily

Stuck in Love

Stuck in Love came out last year but unfortunately it didn't come out in any of the cinemas near me. I really don't know why because after watching it this weekend I fell in love. It follows one family who all have a different outlook on life and love. That makes it sound like a romcom but it really isn't. I would say it is more of a romance drama. It's the kind of story lines you would expect to see in a TV show. I knew most of the actors from other films which made me enjoy it more. 

I recommend you give this film a go. And if you do will you let me know what you think?