Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
I have a confession to make. I am huge Planet of the Apes fan. I loved the old movies. As a kid, nothing made me happier than flipping through the VHF channels and stumbling on one of the movies. I enjoyed the TV series as well. Here is where the confession gets serious, I had the action figures and a Planet of the Apes Halloween costume also.
I was deeply disappointed by the Tim Burton remake from a number of years ago. It was okay until the end and then it was ruined. But the Planet was redeemed by the fantastic Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Not only was it a great Planet of Apes movie, it was a solid movie in general. Ever since then I had been Googling to find out when that sequel would be.
Last night I finally had the opportunity to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. It was very different from the first one but then it had to. Dawn picks up the story ten years later after a virus and the resulting violence has decimated human society. A group of humans hope to regain electricity from a hydro dam but to do that they have to cross territory inhabited by the apes.
While humans have struggled, the apes have prospered both by lack of human intervention and under the able leadership of Caesar. Things go well until the humans and apes once again cross paths. Although there is a way for the humans and apes to respect each other’s land, it seems like nothing goes right.
What I liked about this movie is that the conflict was not simple. It was not about the leaders of the apes and humans choosing to fight. It is more about prejudice on both sides, outside of the leadership, that causes the problems.
In this movie, the apes are the most interesting characters. Caesar grows from his portrayal in Rise. He is quiet but strong. He wants peace but he will not let his people be walked on. The relationship between Caesar and Koba is also very interesting. Koba bears many scars from his time being experimented on by scientists, but those scars are nothing compared to what he has on the inside. He truly believes what he is doing is for the good of the apes according to what he knows about humans.
The movie ends once again asking for a sequel. Where will the story go from here? In the original movies, the apes rule the planet and the humans are less than intelligent animals. Also in Rise, there is brief mention of astronauts going missing. That is key to both the original movie and the Burton remake.
I very much enjoyed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and now it is time to start Googling about the next instalment.
I haven’t seen the other remakes, but I took my son to see this film the other night. It was epic in my opinion. Normally movies are full of smut or other compromised morals, but here is a story with true moral values.
I loved the fact that the two separate communities were existing nicely on their own, one thriving under strong leadership, and the other declining slowly, and heading to a fear filled future. I loved that the movie tried to make me choose who I wanted to win, and that the choice was so difficult. I loved that both communities had their strengths and their weaknesses.
I really loved how the polarity switched from ape/human to good/evil, and the shift in focus from species against species to honour against dishonour.
Like les miserables (another great story of grace and redemption), it placed a great deal of plot emphasis on trust, truth, leadership, and morals. A thoroughly enjoyable watch, and thought provoking too!,
If you haven’t seen Rise of the Planet of the Apes, stop what you are doing right now and watch it. You can pick it up cheap or you can watch it on Netflix. It is very good.