Originally Posted by
bassman
It's amazing to think that they were able to successfully reboot one of the greatest science fictions series' of all time with not only one film, but now they're two for two. I loved "Dawn". That's not to say it doesn't have a few minor flaws here and there, but as a whole it's a very successful science fiction film. As soon as the movie starts you're just immediately catapulted into this post apocalyptic world of San Francisco and the hits just keep on coming for two hours. There's quite a bit of action in the film, but for the most part it seems to be evenly paced and balanced out with the more story-driven moments. The greatest thing is that this isn't one of those sequels that feels like the writers sat down and said "alright....this time we need bigger, flashier, and louder!!". Instead it feels more like they had the right motivation of wanting to progress the story of Caesar so that the audience can see what he's become and what he will continue to become after the events of "Rise".
A few spoiler-free random thoughts to cap this off....
- There are thankfully no forced references to the original apes series like we saw in "Rise". There are a few here and there, but they're not as obnoxious as the previous. The most noticeable is probably hints to Jerry Goldsmith's legendary original score. Keep and ear out for that.
- The villain of the film will surprise you. Let's just say the trailers haven't been straight-forward, which is surprising these days...
- Andy Serkis deserves the highest of praise for his performance as Caesar. It's astounding.
- The CGI apes have improved even more since the last film. There will be a few moments where you notice it's CG(mostly in action scenes), but most of the time you'll be so wrapped up in the story and the CG is so good that you'll completely forget.
- I'm so glad Director Matt Reeves and Cinematographer Michael Seresin are already attached to the third film. Reeves knows how to balance the characters while providing the thrills and creates one of the most well-planned summer blockbuster films in years. Seresin created a visually beautiful yet gloomy apocalyptic world with wonderful contrasts. For people that pay attention to camera placement and movements, keep an eye out for the "tank shot". It's amazing!
- Gary Oldman felt under used and didn't pull off his return to villainy like I'd hoped. He was good with the time he had, but you'll see what I mean.
- The humans in general are a bit lacking with development. Whether this is a mishap or not, I can't tell because the apes are so wonderfully written. They're absolutely the main focus of the film. You'll easily get more emotional feelings for the apes than you will for the humans.
- Not absolute remakes, but if you had to compare these new films to the originals based on any sort of basic premise, I'd say Rise was Conquest and Dawn is Battle. Makes me wonder where they'll go from here? Their own direction or loop back around to something like Taylor/time travel/mutants/etc?
- Speaking of, while this is obviously a science fiction film, I feel like the series could use just a touch more science mumbo jumbo in the next installment. Rise had the laboratory and virus on it's side, but Dawn feels like it's lacking all of that and is more of an action film, so I'd like to see a tad more scifi thrown in later...
- There are a few cliché action movie moments, especially toward the climax, but they're executed well.
I'm trying my best to keep this all spoiler free, so it might seem a bit jumbled. Suffice to say, I highly recommend it. If you're a fan of the original series or the reboot "Rise", this should be a no-brainer. Do some of the early reviews make it seem a bit TOO hyped? Yeah, they really do. Try to ignore that stuff and judge it on your own terms with an open mind. It has it's fair share of flaws, but still a damn fine sequel to an amazing reboot. And it's doing wonderfully financially, which shocks me a bit considering it's not a superhero movie.... 7.5/10
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
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