Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
It’s been a decade since chimpanzee Caesar (Andy Serkis: The Hobbit) freed the apes of San Francisco to seek sanctuary in the redwood forests across the bridge. Thanks to the animal testing Caesar and his crew endured, these apes are hyper-intelligent. They have hunting parties, schools for their young and their own form of Hammurabi’s code carved into their simian city. Their society prospers under the leadership of Caesar and his lieutenant Koba (Toby Kebbell: The Counselor).
But the Alzheimer’s treatment drug that empowered Caesar and his fellow apes was toxic to humans. As Caeser and his subjects build their civilization high in the redwoods, humanity is wracked by the simian flu. Those who don’t succumb to the virus die in the riots and looting that follow.
It’s been two years since any ape has encountered a human, and the simians are content that their former captors have slaughtered each other into extinction. So the apes are surprised when they come across humans wandering in their forest in search of a hydroelectric plant.
Not as surprised as the humans, who panic and shoot one of the apes.
Koba, who was scarred and abused by laboratory scientists, wants to murder the people. Caesar, who was raised by a loving scientist, believes that humans and apes can co-exist. In a show of mercy, he tells the humans to leave and never return.
Shocked by talking apes, the humans skedaddle. But back in their survivors’ colony, they tell tales of loquacious simians. Surviving humanity divides into two camps: those who see the apes as possible allies in their quest to survive and those who want to destroy the monsters they blame for the outbreak of the simian flu.
This reboot of the iconic sci-fi films has cleverly focused on the apes’ perspective, but it can’t escape poor plotting and ridiculous dialog. Ninety percent of the conflict could be solved if the characters (both ape and human) spent five minutes talking.
Apes are powerful creatures who should be fearsome predators if gifted with extra brainpower. Instead, director Matt Reeves (Let Me In) films the simian equivalent of a Rambo movie, with Koba charging the human colony on horseback while firing two machine guns as fire blazes in the background. Reeves is attempting to make an iconic image, but what he creates is so ridiculous that some viewers snicker during the grand battle for the fate of the planet.
With the ending forgone, Reeves must rely on the strength of his actors to give his audience reason to care. The apes — all created from live-action performances covered with computer-generated images — are a testament to technology and the actors behind it.
Humans, however, lack even basic character development. They are divided into two groups: the violent bad guys who won’t listen and the wide-eyed good guys who blindly trust the apes.
Though it features groundbreaking CGI and amazing leaps in motion-capture effects, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a collection of missed opportunities. Without plot-driven tension or compelling performances from the homo sapiens, the film drags. With people like this, it’s hard not to root for the apes.