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| Caesar (Serkis) is back in the best Apes film yet. |
Directed by Matt Reeves
Produced by Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver
Written by Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver
Starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell and Kodi Smit-McPhee
****
Set ten years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn opens on Caesar (Serkis), the ape who led a mass exodus for genetically-enhanced apes in the previous film. He is now the leader of a large group of them, and they have their own city in the California woods. Meanwhile, humans have largely been wiped out by the Simian flu, with survivors spread throughout the world. When a few humans encounter the apes and shoot one, it heightens the tension between them. Koba (Kebbell), Caesar's second-in-command, hates the humans, and this one incident slowly festers into an all-out war between the two parties. As the human numbers dwindle, they might not stand a chance against the apes.
What a surprise this was! Matt Reeves has delivered a stunning work, as rich in story and character development (especially with the apes) as it is in first-rate visual effects. I'm only a casual fan of the Apes franchise, but this has me excited for another film. Andy Serkis continues to push the boundaries of motion-capture performance, and his ape counterparts - particularly the oft-underrated Toby Kebbell - are also terrific. The actors portraying the humans are very good too, but their roles are more serviceable to the story of the apes. Michael Giacchino's pounding score is an impressive contribution, and the film manages to showcase some fantastic action sequences only when necessary to the story. Easily the finest Planet of the Apes movie to date, this grounded blockbuster is also one of the best films I've seen this year.
Oscar Potential: Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects
Hi Josh! Glad you love this one too. Easily one of the BEST of the Summer and might end up in my top 10. Yeah Kebbell is quite underrated and not as well-known yet but he's been good in the few things I've seen him in, so hopefully he'll get more prominent roles in the future.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth! It's currently my #6, but my list is changing a lot now. Kebbell is going to play Doctor Doom in The Fantastic Four, so hopefully he'll continue to get more prominent roles. I loved his work in films like Dead Man's Shoes, RocknRolla and The East, but those films didn't do very well at the box office.
DeleteGreat review! I'm really looking forward to seeing this. Think I'm going to have to watch the previous film before hand to refresh my memories :)
ReplyDelete- Allie
Thanks! This film was much better than the first one. Hope you like it!
DeleteNice review Josh. A few cheesy moments, but overall entertaining and more thoughtful than your general summer film.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dan. I thoroughly enjoyed it. For me, it's easily the blockbuster of the year so far.
DeleteI loved this movie. I agree, Reeves really did deliver an all-around stunning film, and this flick contains Andy Serkis' finest work to date. Just... wow. Blockbusters aren't typically my thing, but this movie was a thrill.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you loved this one too. Blockbusters tend to be anywhere from good to terrible for me, but this was WAY better than I was expecting.
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