Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Review-by Connor Zinda

The second installation of the newest Planet of the Apes trilogy follows ten years after the events of the first movie and the outbreak of Simian Flu, a disease accidentally created from ALZ-113, an alzheimer’s drug for humans which also gives apes superior intelligence. Simian Flu devastates the population leaving small bands of human survivors across the globe. the apes however are prospering in the temperate rain forests of San Francisco with Caesar, the ape from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, as their leader. The humans of San Francisco need the power from the dam lying under Caesar’s domain. The plot thickens from this point on.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has many strong traits, namely beautiful acting. Jason Clarke who plays Malcolm the protagonist, shows all the emotions necessary for an apocalypse survivor and widowed husband. Andy Serkis, who plays Caesar in both this and the first motion picture in the trilogy, acts beautifully and fluidly. This time, he speaks and shows more emotion that he did in the first installment. Koba, also from the first movie, shows only one personality trait: rage. Toby Kebbell, the actor who plays Koba, streamlines all that negative emotion and displays nothing but his exclusively violent heart. Dreyfus, played by Gary Oldman, doesn’t get much screen time, but his two scenes make you sympathize with him despite his bad motives.

The camera work paired with the writing deserves some praise too, especially the opening scene which is simple, but expertly done.San Francisco looks like a war and pandemic outbreak really happened. Caesar’s village looks like it was built by a tribe of apes, not a Hollywood build crew. The script sounds like the writers truly invested time and effort into making it a well-developed story, instead of rushing through the intricate penning process to sell tickets faster.

All in all, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has wonderful cinematography, great writing, and a perfect cast. If it is feasible for you to watch it in a theater, then by all means grab a ticket and catch the closest show time.