Warning! Contains Spoilers!
This is the sequel to the movie
that revamped the Planet of the Apes franchise but without the future setting
or Statue of Liberty. But it’s got Gary Oldman and that guy who played Gollum! Showtime!
The monkey virus has all but
wiped out the human race. Apes have begun showing the early signs of culture in
a way that would give a National Geographic photographer a coronary. It’s an
idyllic existence of tree swinging and banana tossing. All that is thrown up in
the air when (surprise, surprise) humans stumble through the woods looking for
a hydroelectric plant located deep in apeland. Humans must have this power
source or the attempt to rebuild civilisation will fail. The magnanimous apes
agree but only to avoid conflict. Because ape culture is perfect. They do not
need power. In fact they need nothing at all from humans. Except antibiotics.
And guns. And knowledge. And a unifying enemy. Basically, if the Americans and
the Arabs could trust each other and work together, then both groups could
coexist to their mutual benefit. I mean Ape and Human. Anyhow, it all goes tits
up and we get a war on our hands.
This is a summer blockbuster so
it contains a fourth of July’s worth of special effects. Andy Serkis rocks it
out as Caesar (king ape) and we can connect far more with his group than we
could with those blue skinned Avatar monkeys. The ape’s behaviour is alien and
at the same time so similar to ours that I had to word this sentence several
times because it felt racist even though it was regarding animals. I don’t want
to start any monkey hate crimes. There is enough of that in the movie. When
battle begins it is on an epic scale! There was enough firepower unleashed in
the ape attack on castle humanity to overwhelm a small country. So many guns. Where
did the apes get so many weapons? That’s easy. The film is set in a post-apocalyptic
America were society has broken into anarchy during a virulent plague. Where
did they get the weapons? They picked them off the floor because ‘Merica!
Armoury aside, the film is visual beautiful. You will be under no doubt that
this is the ruins of San Francisco and monkeys can pull of some intimidating
war paint. Great success!
There are many stand out moments
to choose from. ‘The battle’ holds up for pure action. At one point Koba (Toby
Kebbell) leads the manic monkeys on a banzai charge. During the inevitable
recreation of the Somme, Koba rides a horse headlong into machinegun fire while
firing a gun in both hands. We have all had epic moments like that! Fuck ye! At
one point the apes loyal to Caesar are held prisoner in an old school bus.
Taking their lead from the cool as hell Maurice (Karin Konoval), a Bornean orangutan, they grab their gaolers
through the bus windows. Sitting in the
audience I was expecting some neck snapping, gun stealing and gaol busting. But
no – they just hold onto them through the windows. And slowly start to rock the
bus from side to side. The captured guard apes realised what was coming next
about the same time as myself. Having a bus role onto half a dozen baddies
quickly crushed the high morals of “Ape not kill ape”.
Despite lavish millions being spent on computer graphics plus fantastic
casting for all the major parts I have to give my top marks to the story. The
message is simple but is told bloody well. “Dawn” plainly shows how different
cultures clash due to misunderstanding and mistrust. In such an environment it
is effortless (some might say inevitable) for a small group of extremists (on
both sides) to create conflict. Good willed and peace loving individuals are
pulled along by events and are unable to stop the avalanche of hate and
violence. This film could have been the
Crusades, the Western Front or the Cuban missile crisis. Now I think of it, all
of those movies have been made but without the essential ape element. Monkey President
Kennedy would be soooo cool! (Tangent over)
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
is a blast and well worth a viewing. It only suffers from a slightly too long
running time. It is also quite new viewer friendly – seeing the original is not
a necessity. Probably not the best movie for a first date.
I give “Dawn of the Planet of the
Apes” four Brian faces out of five.
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