Re: Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014)
This movie was great, man.
Here's my take, really: I liked Rise of the Planet of the Apes only a little bit, but my favorite moments were the hearty connections between human and ape (notably, Franco's character and Caesar). That's why, in my opinion, the first half of that film was much stronger than the second half. I also just wasn't a fan of the apes in general. Maybe it was because I didn't feel they did anything that spectacular, I didn't know who they were in a nutshell, or maybe I thought the CGI at the time was a bit underwhelming.
So before watching Dawn, I was a bit skeptical. I figured without James Franco and with an established ape colony, we'd be getting a lot more of what I liked least about Rise. Furthermore, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to sympathize for the -tagonists that the apes portrayed, no matter how hard the film tried. I was super glad to have been proven wrong on all fronts, and they really made a stellar film. Because of the way they surpassed my doubts, I think this movie surpasses Rise in many ways. I would recommend you see Rise first though so you get the gist of how everything has come to be thus far if you haven't yet.
As a side note, Matt Reeves has been 3-for-3 with films thus far IMO (Cloverfield, Let Me In, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). I should have expected it would have had a set amount of heartfelt moments to push me through.
Let me keep ya'll in mind that I will still always play the skeptic card for any previous Planet of the Apes movies, and for any future movies as well. Somewhere in there is a strong film that I will enjoy, and somewhere in there is a film that I will just care none about. Based on the TV spots for this film even, if I felt like it was just a large war on humans versus apes, I really would not have enjoyed it that much (hence why the last act of Rise, once again, was not that great for me). I was glad that the motivations in this film really lent to something else, another form of trust and bondage between man and chimpanzee.
This movie was great, man.
Here's my take, really: I liked Rise of the Planet of the Apes only a little bit, but my favorite moments were the hearty connections between human and ape (notably, Franco's character and Caesar). That's why, in my opinion, the first half of that film was much stronger than the second half. I also just wasn't a fan of the apes in general. Maybe it was because I didn't feel they did anything that spectacular, I didn't know who they were in a nutshell, or maybe I thought the CGI at the time was a bit underwhelming.
So before watching Dawn, I was a bit skeptical. I figured without James Franco and with an established ape colony, we'd be getting a lot more of what I liked least about Rise. Furthermore, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to sympathize for the -tagonists that the apes portrayed, no matter how hard the film tried. I was super glad to have been proven wrong on all fronts, and they really made a stellar film. Because of the way they surpassed my doubts, I think this movie surpasses Rise in many ways. I would recommend you see Rise first though so you get the gist of how everything has come to be thus far if you haven't yet.
As a side note, Matt Reeves has been 3-for-3 with films thus far IMO (Cloverfield, Let Me In, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). I should have expected it would have had a set amount of heartfelt moments to push me through.
Let me keep ya'll in mind that I will still always play the skeptic card for any previous Planet of the Apes movies, and for any future movies as well. Somewhere in there is a strong film that I will enjoy, and somewhere in there is a film that I will just care none about. Based on the TV spots for this film even, if I felt like it was just a large war on humans versus apes, I really would not have enjoyed it that much (hence why the last act of Rise, once again, was not that great for me). I was glad that the motivations in this film really lent to something else, another form of trust and bondage between man and chimpanzee.
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