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.