Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sequel to the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, with which 20th Century Fox rebooted the Planet of the Apes franchise. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the 8th film of the franchise, and was directed by Matt Reeves. It stars Gary Oldman as Dreyfus, Andy Serkis as Caesar and Jason Clarke as Malcolm.
A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species. (20th Century Fox)
Let’s check out the trailer…
I’m intruiged by the idea of a battle between the apes and the humans. I’m afraid, though, that they may resort to the old cliché of illustrating the humans as the big bad source of all evil – excluding those few allies the apes manage to make, the rare type that actually cares about his environment and the creatures that inhabit it. While that’s often been the trope of the Planet of the Apes franchise, it’s starting to get a bit old, especially as so many other films have done the same, most recently in Godzilla. It feels like I’ve already seen this movie a ton of times before.
Furthermore, what already bothered me with the first movie of this reboot, and now with the sequel, are the titles. The repetition of “of the” feels poorly chosen and convoluted. It’s minor, maybe irrelevant criticism, but in my opinion, they could have done better.
Finally, Matt Reeves is a fairly inexperienced director – the only feature films he did that were widely distributed were Cloverfield and, to a lesser extent, Let Me In. Cloverfield is known chiefly for its typical camcorder, Blair Witch Project–inspired cinematographic style, and I’m curious to see what (creative) treatment Reeves will give Dawn. In any case, the special effects look impressive.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on July 11, 2014, in the U.K. on July 17. For the release date in your country, check out this list!
Did you see RIse of the Planet of the Apes? Did you like it enough to want to go see the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes?
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