A long time ago, in a place called 1968 there was a revolutionary movie called Planet of the Apes staring Moses (I mean: noted gun-nut Charlton Heston) wherein the world had long ago plunged into a technological darkness and apes had taken over as the dominant intelligence on planet Earth. Heston, an astronaut returning from a mission, lands on what he thinks is some other planet where evolution went horribly wrong...and in a stunning display of terrible acting (shirtless on a beach no less) he views a partially destroyed Statue of Liberty and realizes it was Earth all along. This "epic" scene has been mockingly used many, many times since then.
The failed 2001 relaunch of the franchise had a similarly idiotic scene at the end - this time with the Lincoln Memorial being replaced by an ape Lincoln (like they'd still have had an ape Lincoln...) statue. This movie was much more militaristic; showing apes as ruthless aggressors bent on the destruction of all humanity.
Luckily, a decade later, Twentieth Century Fox revitalized the story with better acting (yes, I know it's James Franco) and better CGI work. With forethought for a franchise they built the first movie as exactly that; a first movie. Caesar is an ape exposed to experimental drugs meant to cure Alzheimer's but in him the affects were amazing and he became hyper intelligent for an ape; capable of understanding and solving complex problems.
Jump ahead ten years (in the POTA universe) and the Apes; with guidance from the mighty Caesar have made a community in the vast forests outside San Francisco. Caesar has sired several offspring; the oldest and strongest - Blue Eyes - he is grooming to eventually take his place. Teaching him to use his intelligence as a guide to being a good, kind leader.
In Dawn humanity is on its last legs in San Francisco. They've cobbled together a meager civilization at the heart of the city but have no power source and are running low on fuel. Their solution: restart a hydro-electric dam and bring power back to the city. Thus enter the plot.
The movie is decently well written - with few plot issues. There are a few "too convenient" situations but they are mostly believable given the characters and situations involved. An excellent scene occurs when Koba (one of Caesar's most trusted advisers and human-hater) "plays ape" to seem non-threatening to some humans he happens upon at a weapons depot. Little do they know...
The ape society is built on classes with Caesar at the top as the smartest and the strongest. But unlike most animal class systems there is no battles for supremacy because the teachings of Caesar are that "ape not kill ape". This mantra works...right up until the point that one of the ape's decides Caesar likes humans too much and is weak because of it.
Often times with movies that should focus on non-human characters (like Alien vs. Predator) the human characters always seem to take over and overshadow/drown out they main characters. But Dawn did a good job representing both equally and well. Time was spent with just the apes; of them having conversations and discussing serious topics.
There are a few scenes that are very impactful; like when Caesar and the entire ape society show up at the doorstep of the human refugee camp as a show of strength with a warning not to venture into their woods before. When Caesar speaks - the reaction of the humans in the crowd is outstanding. And, as you've no doubt seen in the previews - seeing an ape on horseback shooting an automatic rifle is pretty amazing.
I, for one, can't wait to see where the next movie takes us. Hail Caesar.
Thanks for reading!
Tim
No comments:
Post a Comment