Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Producers: Chernin Entertainment

Director: Matt Reeves

Writers: Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, based on the novel “La Planète des Singes” by Pierre Boulle

Rated: PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Action, and Brief Strong Language

Runtime: 130 min

Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

This film takes place ten years after the events of the first film. We find the apes have fashioned for themselves a cozy civilization based on some of the same principles we've based our civilization on (Apes do not kill other apes, for example.) A small band of humans stumble upon the apes and set into motion events that threaten both species.

The danger of seeing a movie a week after release is that it's nearly impossible to avoid hearing other people's opinions of the movie. Some of the folks I pay attention to had talked this movie up to a point that I think was impossible to actually reach, and that unfortunately may cloud some of my thinking on this film. That doesn't mean I think it is a bad movie, it's not, it's pretty good. For the most part Matt Reeves' direction is spot on, although I feel he could've have trimmed the movie down to under two hours. During the last fifteen to twenty minutes I found myself ready for the end, which to me is a sign that some fat could have been trimmed.

Academy Award winning composer Michael Giacchino's score is just there. I never found the music to be inspiring much emotion in me, which was disappointing because I've been a fan of his past work. The acting is serviceable, with Gary Oldman standing out as a man being pushed along on a tide of things he can't control. Andy Serkis' motion capture work is great again, but not as dynamic as some of his other efforts (I still think it's a shame he was overlooked by the Academy for his work in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.)

I'm still looking forward to the rest of this series. I'm interested in how the world gets from where we're left here to the world of human subjugation we see in 1968's Planet of the Apes. Focusing on the apes' story instead of the humans was a smart move, as they should be the stars of the film, but it was done haphazardly, as characters that we're expected to care about are not given much in the way of development. This hurt the movie when we're told that they're in danger; am I supposed to care when I can't even recall whether or not that character's name has been used?

Conclusion: A decent summer movie, but I didn't find it as compelling as some reviewers have found it. Although it didn't elevate the series into something extraordinary it did keep me interested enough to buy a ticket for the next one. Temper your expectations and you'll have fun, go in expecting greatness and you may leave disappointed.

Rating: 7/10