Image courtesy of wall.alphacoders.com
Since War for the Planet of the Apes was the next new release, I decided to watch the previous movies. Having covered the first movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, here are my thoughts on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
The story picks up ten years after the events of Rise, where the human population has been greatly reduced by the Simian Flu pandemic. Only 1 out of every 500 is immune to it. Meanwhile, the apes have begun setting up a society of their own, with Caesar leading a colony near San Francisco. However, their society happens to have a dam within it that the humans want to work on in order to bring power to the city. The apes will stand their ground if they have to, but do not want to resort to violence. They allow the humans through, something Caesar's lieutenant Koba does not take too kindly to, considering what humans had done to him. This culminates in a battle only one species can win.
What Worked: In regards to the cast, there are four noteworthy human characters. First is Jason Clarke as Malcolm, who leads the group sent on behalf of the survivors. Much like James Franco's character Will from the first movie, he's very compassionate and wants to help the apes in addition to his family. As the movie progresses, he also gets to know Caesar. Then there's Malcolm's wife, Ellie, played by Keri Russell. She's like Freida Pinto's character Caroline from Rise, but she's given more to do. There's also Malcolm's son Alexander, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee. He, too, is really good, especially in one particular scene that will be mentioned later. These three are the human characters to get invested in, because they're likable, and throughout the movie, they prove to Caesar and the apes that not all humans are bad.
The other human character worth mentioning is Dreyfus (Gary Oldman), who leads the survivors. He is hesitant in sending Malcolm's group out because he doesn't trust the apes. He's not necessarily a villain, nor is he entirely likable, but where he's coming from is still understandable. Out of all of the characters Gary Oldman has portrayed, Dreyfus is one of his more underrated ones; he's excellent in this.
Like the humans, there are at least two actors on the apes' side other than Andy Serkis as Caesar that might not be big names, but at least familiar to some. For example, Judy Greer (Cheryl from Archer) is in this as Caesar's wife, Cornelia. She's not in the movie that much; Cornelia was also a character in the first one, but she's an extended cameo even if she's more established here. The other actor also portrays a character from the first movie, and that is Toby Kebbell as Koba. Aside from Caesar and Maurice, he's the best character in the movie. There's something he does that easily makes him the trilogy's best villain. It provides even more reason to root for Caesar.
As for the technical aspects, the performance by Andy Serkis goes hand-in-hand with at least a couple of them. First, there's the story, which picks up some time after the events of the previous movie, as stated earlier. However, the script expands upon the story of the first movie in general as well as those of the characters. Even when there's downtime instead of action, some of those moments help develop them. An excellent example is a scene with Alexander interacting with Maurice. They both learn something about each other, and Maurice begins to understand that they want to help. This is one of the best scenes in the movie because of how both characters are developed in one scene and how peaceful it is. It also provides some emotion.
Not only has the development of the characters grown since Rise, but also the effects. This is especially true of Caesar and the performance by Andy Serkis. Even through the motion-capture technology, the viewer won't just see an actor portraying a character; they will see that character. This is something that he is known for. His performance, the effects, and the story all convey one thing: that Caesar has grown from a rebel into a warrior.
What Didn't Work: The main minor issue is with pacing. This is not a major problem, though, because there are none with this one, either.
Overall: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a fantastic sequel. It is right up there with sequels such as The Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, or even The Dark Knight (just to name a few). In fact, as I said in my overall thoughts on Rise of the Planet of the Apes, that felt like the Batman Begins of this franchise. If that's the case, this is The Dark Knight.
Side Note: Keep the finale in mind, and listen closely for something at the very end of the credits. It may hint at something. If I go any further into it, it might be reaching spoiler territory, and I prefer to get my thoughts out with as few spoilers as possible (and mild ones at that).