By now we all recognize that Hollywood is driven by the big money and bigger spectacle that sequels provide, with narrative need probably way down the totem pole when considering such follow-ups. As we've just endured the third unnecessary Transformers sequel, such things can prove to be a little depressing, and there was some concern that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes could be just another soulless sequel churned out by the system with pumped up CGI and no real heart. But the film, a technical and thematic marvel crafted by Matt Reeves, is not only exciting in the way we all want summer blockbusters to be, it improves on its predecessor in just about every way.
That's not a knock on Rise of the
Planet of the Apes, a film that far exceeded expectations largely by
giving in to its sci-fi B-movie roots. It worked as a warning to man's selfish
meddling in the ways of nature and as a campy action flick about rampaging
apes. 'Dawn' is considerably more serious but let's be honest here, this isn't
the "Planet of the Apes and those Pesky Humans' series. We expect things
to get a little dark along the way and probably won't turn out so well for our
side. Action and violence, of which there are plenty of both, doesn't simply
occur for the sake of momentary thrills. Every life-or-death decision is
weighed, measured, and has real significance to the future of two opposing
species.
Building on the sturdy foundation laid by the prior film, this one moves
forward in time ten years after the human population has nearly been eradicated
by the Simian Flu. Caesar (Andy Serkis, and let's just say the man deserves an
Oscar by now) is no longer the young, genetically evolved ape we saw before.
Now he's the leader of a tribe, and more than that he's got a wife (Judy Greer)
and young son, Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston), relying on him. Like any leader,
Caesar has those who are loyal and some like the badly-scarred Koba (Toby
Kebbell), who claim loyalty but have their own motivations. The rules of their
society are pretty simple, with the biggest rule scrawled in chalk, "Ape
no kill ape". Humans haven't been spotted in what remains of San Francisco
in years, so when a small pocket of them are encountered and it ends in
bloodshed, some of Caesar's followers start sounding the drumbeat for war.
Screenwriters Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver draw obvious but
resonant parallels between Caesar and Malcolm (Jason Clarke), a leading voice
amongst the humans with his own son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and lover (Keri Russell)
to take care of. Unlike some of the others in their group, neither Malcolm or
Caesar wants a battle, recognizing that a full scale war could destroy them
all. But the humans need power to rebuild civilization, and the only source is
on the apes' home turf. Without it, people have essentially reverted back to a
primal state and their desperate, battle-ready leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman, in
Commissioner Gordon mode) is ready to do anything to change that. 
Analogies to race relations or the ongoing conflict in the Middle East are
clear but never beaten to death. It's far more concerned with common themes of
loyalty, family, and betrayal, all of which are approached with sincerity and
intelligence. When Caesar becomes father to a newborn child, we recognize how
the stakes have been elevated and why he makes certain choices. Of course, we
also know that whatever he decides it will end up with hundreds of digital apes
swinging from power lines and firing machine guns from horseback. How would you
like to be a normal animal in a world of evolved chimps? That must really suck.
Anyway, when monkey mayhem ensues it's quite the computer-generated showcase.
Reeves has done some spectacular digital effects work before, most notably in
the monster flick Cloverfield.
But let's not forget he also directed the superior vampire remake, Let Me In,
and 'Dawn' impressively combines pot boiling thrills with moments of sheer
horror. Comedy is sparse but there are a few moments of monkey mockery that are
worth a laugh. They tend to end with somebody dying but they're funny for a
time. 
What more is there to say about Andy Serkis' performance capture work at
this point? The emotion he's able to wring is truly exceptional, and I've
personally come around to thinking we need a special category for honoring what
he's so consistently been able to do. One only wishes the humans had more to
work with. Clarke makes the most of a character that is basically just meant to
play a lesser version of Caesar. Oldman is never given a chance to be the
firebrand his character would seem to demand. But as noted before, this is
'Planet of the Apes', and so they get the bulk of the character focus. Where
'Rise' was mostly a movie about humans, we're clearly meant to land on the side
of the apes now and it feels a little counter-intuitive at first.Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a deeply intelligent, wildly entertaining sequel that proves the summer blockbuster is capable of evolution, too.
Rating: 4 out of 5
