Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

It’s been a decade since Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and here’s all you really need to know: humanity has all but been wiped out by the “Simian Flu” and a tribe of super-intelligent apes have escaped into the woods to the north of San Francisco. The apes, led by Caesar (Andy Serkis), have built a community and settled down, with Caesar starting a family that includes one grown son, Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston) and another child on the way. As for the humans… well, the apes figure they’ve all died out. So when Blue Eyes and a friend run into a small band of humans led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), they don’t take it well. One ape faction, led by Koba (Toby Kebbell), doesn’t trust humans; Caesar’s approach is more moderate, letting the humans leave with their lives. Back in the overgrown ruins of San Francisco, Malcolm and company’s wild stories about talking apes don’t impress the leader of the survivors, Dreyfus (Gary Oldman). His day gets worse when Caesar and an ape army turn up to lay down the law: humans get the city, apes have the forest. Everyone stays separate, everyone stays happy.
Whereas a lot of recent blockbusters go for bluster, this knows one of its strongest elements is just letting the apes run wild; a stunning opening hunting sequence is thrilling stuff. And large stretches of the film are all but silent, so when the apes do speak (they mostly communicate amongst themselves in sign language) it remains startling throughout. Caesar aside, the characters are thinly drawn (with the female characters basically stuck in the background as nurturers), but this isn’t so much a film about individuals as it is a clash between two tribes. Both have similar internal dynamics and everyone’s motivations are clear and (somewhat) rational, even when they lead to violence.
Much of this film is a slow burn, a back-and-forth between the two tribes as they repeatedly butt heads. The humans need access to a dam in the forest to generate the power they need to survive; they just won’t leave the apes alone. There’s growing understanding between individuals, but tensions slowly rise between the tribes. Unsurprisingly given what we know of human history, it all points inevitably to war – and the most thrilling and individual blockbuster out of Hollywood this year.
Written by Anthony Morris