Talk about a massive step up from the last movie. As many of you saw in the last review for Rise, I do not consider it a bad movie at all. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but it was definitely good. Its sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, blows it completely out of the water.
First off, this movie fixes my major problem with the first movie and that was human characters. This movie does a much better job of keeping the focus on the titular apes rather than the human characters they interact with. This is especially evident in the second half. In fact, now that I think about it, the movie provides a perfect segue throughout itself as the focus on the humans (much more evident in the first third of the film) turns to the apes (more evident in the last third) with a great middle area where both can shine (take note Michael Bay). This perfectly mirrors the balance of power between the two species as well.
Caesar continues to be one of my favorite characters in all movie history, simply because the struggles and flaws he has are so understandable and human (even though he is an ape). In this film, Caesar tries to work peace between the humans and the tribe he has fought so hard to protect. However, his major flaw comes when he assumes he has full loyalty among his advisers, many of whom he himself broke out of containment. However, one of his advisers, Koba, cannot let go of his hatred of humans and cannot forgive them for what they did to him in containment. At first this seems exactly like Aladdin or other movies that you’ve seen a thousand times, but somehow director Matt Reeves made it all seem fresh. The moment that Caesar realizes his mistake and has to answer for it is one of the best sequences in the film.
Unlike last time, more characters stood out. Although I remember him from the first movie, Maurice stood out more to me in this movie as the only sense of security that Caesar could possibly have. Koba was a fantastic villain, although much of him reminded me of Scar from The Lion King. His hatred of humans was completely understandable and he provided the perfect example of what kind of leader Caesar could have been, but thankfully was not.
The special effects continue to be a marvel and its truly disappointing that the Oscars tend to look over this movie series. Andy Serkis once again kills it as Caesar and like I said before, has provided one of my favorite characters of all time.
Overall, Dawn improved upon Rise in every way it could have. The story was better, the effects were better, the characters were better, everything was better. This movie has cemented me as a Planet of the Apes fan and I can’t wait to see how it all ends.
Critcal Me 