7 Reasons Why You Should Get Hyped Up for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The success of Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a surprise. It was, after all, a movie that nobody had asked for. Tim Burton had tried and failed to reboot the original perfectly in 2001, so why would anybody be interested in a prequel, right?
Still, the film turned out to be smart and original, anchored by strong performances from Andy Serkis and James Franco.
Now, the apes are back in the sequel to the 2011 hit. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is one of the most anticipated movies of 2014 for good reason. Let’s enumerate those reasons, shall we?
7 Reasons Why You Should Get Hyped Up for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
1. It’s the Beginning of the End for Humanity.
The film takes place ten years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Humanity is on its last legs. 90% of the world’s population has been killed off by the Simian virus. The rest struggle for survival.
The humans are led by Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) whose wife and children were killed by the epidemic. He blames the apes for the death of his family.
2. Caesar has become the Leader of the Ape Community.
Meanwhile, the apes are thriving. Led by Caesar, who is once again portrayed by motion capture maestro Andy Serkis, the apes have built a complex and powerful society in the forest. They’ve developed rules, codes of conduct, ethics and even a rudimentary language. They’re also well-armed and have no fear of taking on the humans.
Caesar now has a family. He has a partner Cornelia (Judy Greer) and a son named River (Nick Thurston). But he also has to tangle with Koba (Toby Kebbell), a ruthless adviser who hates humans with a passion.
3. War is Coming.
The humans are desperately in need of electricity in order to survive. A group of survivors led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke) is forced to go into ape territory in order to find a dam needed to power the human settlements.
Malcolm and Caesar try to get along for the sake of their communities but the two are caught between the extremists of both sides who want nothing more than total destruction.
4. The Story is evenly split between Apes and Humans.
The simians are not playing second fiddle this time around as the story gives equal emphasis to both the human and ape factions. We will get to know the ape characters just as well as we do the humans.
5. It’s the Most Ambitious Performance Capture Film to Date.
A great deal of care has been put in to make the visual effects in this film work. In an interview with Collider, Serkis calls the film “the most ambitious performance capture movie to date.” Most of the movie was shot in real-world locations instead of a sound stage to add realism.
The actors for the apes even had to go to “Ape Camp” for a few weeks in order to get the simian behavior right.
6. It’s the Eighth Film in the Planet of the Apes franchise.
Would you believe that there have been seven other Planet of the Apes films?
The original in 1968 starring Charlton Heston spawned four sequels including Beneath the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. There’s also the 2001 remake directed by Tim Burton but we don’t talk about that.
We know at least one more film is in the works. Matt Reeves, the director of Dawn has been tapped to direct the next film in the series. And who knows? Depending on the success of the third film, another trilogy is always a possibility (this is Hollywood after all). So expect to see more apes on your screen for the foreseeable future.
7. Reviews Have Been Overwhelmingly Positive.
Early buzz for the film has been outstanding.
The film currently holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus seems to be that the sequel improves on the original, mixing exciting action sequences with socially relevant themes.
Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood Reporter even says that “Dawn is to Rise of the Planet of the Apes what The Empire Strikes Back was to Star Wars — it’s that much better.” High praise indeed.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is now showing in theatres all over the Philippines.
Catch it in 4DX for an even better and more explosive experience.
