TL;DR – It is a profoundly emotional work that builds on the first film in nearly every way.   

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this film.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Review –

It has been ten years since this movie first came out, and I was taken aback by just how good visual effects had grown, even by the high standards that the Lord of the Rings brought us. But with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes coming out this week, I wanted to take a moment to go back in time and see how well this second entry before War of the Planet of the Apes holds up.

So to set the scene, it has been ten years since the Simian Flu pandemic spread across the globe with a survival rate of only 1 in 500, as was seen at the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. As human society completely collapsed, the ape colony founded by Caesar (Andy Serkis) began to thrive in the growing woods outside of what was once San Francisco. It has been two years since they even saw a human, which made that first sound of a gun going off echo throughout the colony. One of the few human settlements left on the Earth has set up shop in the ruins of San Francisco. Caesar does not acquiesce to the drum beats of war but gives the humans an ultimatum: stay away from their area. Peace has a chance, just as long as no one on either side decides to fall on the animosity of the past.     

This is honestly quite a tense film because everything that everyone asks is perfectly reasonable. However, the years of damage have left everything on tenterhooks. People are trying to do the right thing, forge a new peace, and work together, but all it takes is one person acting against that for it all to fall apart. You can feel that tension permeating the film like it is a storm sitting on the horizon, ready to unleash at a moment’s notice. What is worse is that you understand the hate, you understand the suspicion, and you understand why it all falls apart. You do feel sad for Koba (Toby Kebbell) because you know that pain is coming from a real place, even if it is destructive.

Once again, the animation of the apes is outstanding. Probably the best example of this is Koba with the two army troops and how they can bring out every aspect of his dynamic performance as he slips into different personas. On the opposite side is Maurice (Karin Konoval), where we see the combination of strength and compassion throughout the performance. A compassionate presence that could rip you limb from limb in an instance if they chose. You feel that desire to fight for your life at every moment because that emotion and performance have been brought to life. Honestly, these are some of the best fur physics outside of Skull Island. You see this play out spectacularly well in the large action scenes, where we get horses, deer, and even a bear, and it all works.

In an era of dimly lit works, it is good to see something brought to life with clarity, even in the middle of the night. An excellent example of this is a single take that swings around and around the chaos in all its futility. Some moments feel like they were pulled out of an Uncharted game as chaos explodes around people, and in this context, it absolutely works. There is a bit more weight to the action this time around, given the more personal stakes here, and it helps that you care for many of these characters. Also, the sets all perfectly fit the world that they are building. I really loved the Ape-City construction that felt both of its place and its people. With all this being said, it is still not a perfect film. They still struggle to highlight their female characters, with Ellie (Keri Russell) being forgotten about in the third act. Also, the human story never really goes anywhere.  

In the end, do we recommend Dawn of the Planet of the Apes? Yes, we do. This entry builds on everything that made the first film work while also fixing most, but not all, of the issues of the first outing. You can feel the emotions, and that ending resignation is deeply profound. If you liked Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, we would recommend After Yang.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Dawn of the Planet of the Apes?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Directed by – Matt Reeves
Screenplay by – Amanda Silver, Rick Jaffa & Mark Bomback
Based on – Characters created by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, & The Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle, & The Planet of the Apes by Michael Wilson & Rod Serling
Music by – Michael Giacchino
Cinematography by – Michael Seresin
Edited by – William Hoy & Stan Salfas
Production/Distribution Companies – Chernin Entertainment, TSG Entertainment, Disney+ & 20^th Century Fox
Starring – Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer, Nick Thurston, Terry Notary, Karin Konoval, Doc Shaw, Lee Ross, Richard King & Scott Lang with Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirk Acevedo, Jon Eyez, Enrique Murciano, Keir O’Donnell, Kevin Rankin, Jocko Sims & James Franco
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: PG; Germany: 12; New Zealand: M; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13