I didn’t see Transformers: Age of Extinction and I don’t plan on it. Anyone who has ever read any of my reviews knows how I feel about the Transformers movies and Michael Bay. So what did I see? I saw a movie that I actually thought may be good. I saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and boy was I glad I did.
I was a fan of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It was a movie that I expected would suck, but I was force fed my words by a stellar performance by Andy Serkis. This time around I was prepared for the movie to be good and Andy didn’t have to force feed me anything.
For those of you who don’t know, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (which I’ll refer to as “Dawn” from here on out) takes place years after Rise or the Planet of the Apes after a disease has wiped out most of humanity. This movie revolves along the tense relationship between Cesar’s group of apes and a group of humans lead by Gary Oldman. Okay, you know what. I’m going to stop here for a second. We all know that eventually I’ll start talking about the acting and if it was good but let’s face it. The cast includes Gary Oldman, Andy Serkis, Keri Russell, And Jason Clarke! So let’s just get that out of the way. The acting was top notch and even the minor characters did were great. I’ve never heard of Kodi Smit-Mcphee before and he was fantastic as Jason Clarke’s son. He was somehow able to show that innocence can still exist in an apocalyptic setting.
Okay, let’s move on. What really impressed me with this movie was the parallels that were drawn between the ape and human communities. Each ape had a human counterpart and even the struggles and decisions of the two camps mirror each other at times. The two sides weren’t exact copies though so the movie wasn’t corny, which it easily could have been. Dawn could have also been preachy but it avoided that too. I personally hate it when a movie or that has no business getting preachy, gets on a soapbox. That what I hated about Glee. What started out as a musical comedy turned into an after school special. But I digress.
Dawn was fantastic from start to finish and kept a nice level of tension through the whole thing. It was actually a little exhausting as there were very few parts that allowed me, and the characters, to breathe easy. Another thing Dawn had going for it was the ending. I didn’t see it coming. I’m usually pretty good about predicting how a movie will turn out, but this one got me. And it was well done too. No deus ex machina or non sequitur endings. Dawn ended on the perfect note. Not the happiest or saddest note, mind you, but one that fit the story very well.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a movie I recommend to anyone who enjoys movies. Don’t go see Transformers. Ever. Instead see a movie that deserves to be seen.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes gets an 8 out of 11.
