7.5/10

A growing army of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors bent on taking back their planet in this sequel to 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I did enjoy this film more than it’s original. It’s full of emotionally charged dialogue as well as a dark and destroyed setting that is made even more terrifying with the beautiful score by composer Michael Giacchino. The aforementioned does not mean however that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a perfect film or even one worthy of it’s 91% rating currently on Rotten Tomatoes. There is a lot that could’ve been done in this film to not only make it one of the year’s best, but create a legacy for the Apes films that no other has done. My first problem comes in the form of predictability. Cesar is the head of the Ape army and in this film he has a wife and child. His wife is sick from the opening bell and you can just sense that a human will come along and cure her of this. Otherwise, what would be the point of her dying from such a rare disease that no one but a human can save her? My second problem is the feel by the ending credits. You literally watch a lot happen from many fight scenes, betrayal actions from human and ape characters alike, and all out war in which everyone’s life is on the line. Yet you don’t feel like much has happened after 2 hours of this film. We are no further in the storyline than we were at the end of the first movie. Some more humans have died, but the film has virtually the same ending as the first movie, and that might not bother the rest of the audience but it felt pointless to me. As i said before, the emotions are great and the CGI is remotely better in this film with the Ape designs. It’s still looks a little ridiculous when an ape is standing next to a human and a human is obviously looking in the wrong direction. It sounds like i hated this film, but i promise you that a film’s setting and feel of the end of civilization has never been better. There is something almost Romero-esque from the world that director Matt Reeves shows us. One scene in particular shows us an abandoned gas station in which nature has reclaimed from the slabs of concrete now cracked. Gary Oldman is also a welcome addition alongside of actors like Keri Russell and the film’s lead, Jason Clark. Oldman is one of Hollywood’s most dependable actors even if he is only in a film for 15 total minutes. I really wish his role was bigger in a film that showcases him as a ruthless leader of the human race. Clark is pretty well, but doesn’t quite channel the same kind of relationship and chemistry that James Franco had with Ceaser. I haven’t heard much for the future of this series, but i hope that a 3rd film will actually showcase no human characters. It will be tough to keep it entertaining from that aspect, but it would be hard to believe that many humans are living after the actions of this sequel. ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ is an intelligent war movie with themes of politics, leadership, trust and betrayal. It’s best moments are those that hit the closest to home that tells us to get it together before we lose our world to a stronger cause. One of the most entertaining big budget films of the summer for sure