“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” doesn’t disappoint and builds on its stunning predecessor.
When news of a planned reboot of the “Planet of the Apes” series arrived a few years ago, it was met with skepticism. After all, the previous attempt at reviving the franchise, with Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes,” was ghastly and unintentionally hilarious. Fortunately, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was spectacular because it provided a rich story that touched on themes of environmentalism and scientific ethics while the visuals and performances were compelling. This new film lives up to the first.
The film opens to a newsreel of the spread of the Simian virus, beautifully highlighted by the turning off of lights around the globe to indicate the destruction of the human race. The apes, led by Caesar (Andy Serkis), have successfully built their own home in the woods, domesticating horses, teaching their young ones how to speak and write in English and creating a safe haven for their kind. During one of their hunting trips, Caesar’s son, Blue Eyes, encounter a group of humans led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), his wife Ellie (Keri Russell) and their son Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee).
The humans are revealed to have survived the virus, although only a few of them living in a colony in the old San Francisco. Because their fuel is running out, they needed to restart the river dam to generate power for their city with reluctant permission from Caesar. While some of the apes distrust the humans and desire to attack them, including Caesar’s close advisor Kabo and his son, Caesar does not want to cause war between the two groups.
The best thing about this film is director Matt Reeves’ incredible ability to sustain tension throughout the running time. The sound mixing and the score especially help in this case by always implying suspense and keeping the nerves frayed. Reeves is also a talented director of action sequences, capably employing long takes and interesting camera angles to keep audiences gripped. Meanwhile, the visual effects brought the apes to life with real feelings and emotions that made them similar to humans.
For all his fine successes in creating a visceral experience, unfortunately, he could not do anything to make the risible dialogue work in many instances. The actors are stuck spitting out words that are awfully obvious and painfully stupid. For instance, when Malcolm informs the group that “We have to give up our guns to the apes,” his wife responds with a confused look: “What does that mean?” Beyond the dialogue, the script poorly sketches these humans, making them very uninteresting and wasting the talents of great actors like Russell.
Still, the first film succeeded because of the audience’s connection to Caesar’s plight and that is still the case in this sequel. Serkis makes Caesar a compelling presence: his emotions—ranging from sadness to anger—are all too human and his distrust of humans contrasts with his lingering affections for them. The film also makes the other apes more interesting as individual characters than their human counterparts, with their interior headspace more sketched out.
Despite these flaws, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is a successful sequel that capitalizes on what made the first film effective while continuing to be an emotional, gripping experience.
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (PG-13, 130 min) will be released in D.C. theaters on Friday, July 11.
