Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Parental Rating: PG-13

Contains: Language    Violence    Adult Content    

Jill's Review

Opens July 11, 2014

Runs 130 minutes (Trainer Joe said it felt much longer to him)

This movie picks up ten years after the last one. The apes that escaped the human labs have multiplied and formed a thriving ape community led by Caesar (Andy Serkis - master of motion capture technology). Most of the humans have been killed by a lethal simian virus. In fact, the apes haven't seen humans for almost two years until a few wander into their woods. Led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Ellie (Keri Russell), a small group of humans are in search of an old dam in the hopes of trying to turn the power back on in their community. At first there is mutual distrust, but Malcolm and Caesar come to an agreement to work together to at least get the dam up and running. Of course, a brutal act  of betrayal leads both sides into what appears to be a coming war for dominance of the planet (Part 3 coming soon....)

I thought this was a good movie. I rated it higher for the spectacular special effects. The apes are so special. There are tons of different kinds and colors.  There are males and females. There are babies. You really feel for most of these apes and relate to the bond between the members of Caesar's ape family. I enjoyed the interaction between the people and the apes when they were helping each other and learning about each other. Once it got down to the sides beginning to face off against each other, I thought the movie dragged just a little and felt longer than it should have. We decided that was because there were good guys on both sides. There were only a few bad eggs and it was hard to root for one side or the other. You wanted everyone to just co-exist. Trainer Joe said that the 3D didn't do anything special for him and made his eyes tired by the end. The 3D was effective for the large ape scenes and the scenes where they were climbing the trees or the building structures, but not really that necessary. Overall, a good sequel. I still think I liked the first reboot (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) better. This one does set you up for Part 3. You won't really feel cheated by the ending but it didn't leave me on edge waiting for the next installment which looks to be a giant battle movie. Still, go see it for the apes alone!

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