Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014)

[DeeCee]

I don't even know where to begin.  

 

So because I don't see the humans becoming leads, that means I'm going to cheer for them to be wiped out and put in cages?  

I would.  The arrogant bastards brought all this on themselves.

[Deep Wang]

I would.  The arrogant bastards brought all this on themselves.

 

Well, that's certainly part of it.  The apes didn't set out to do this.  They hadn't seen humans for 2 years and were happy where they were.

 

That's what is so brilliant about the movie.  It presents both sides of both conflicts, and it does it very well.

[DeeCee]

Well, that's certainly part of it.  The apes didn't set out to do this.  They hadn't seen humans for 2 years and were happy where they were.

 

That's what is so brilliant about the movie.  It presents both sides of both conflicts, and it does it very well.

Seriously now, I pretty much agree with what your saying.  However, I would have like to have seen a bit more subtlety with Acevedo's character.  I just didn't completely buy that he would have that much anger focused on the Apes when the opening montage made pretty clear that everyone new who was responsible for the virus.

Edited July 13, 2014 by DeeCee

[Michael Gary Scott]

Great movie and one of the best of the year. Serkis deserves a nomination he was so great. 5/5

[Deep Wang]

Seriously now, I pretty much agree with what your saying.  However, I would have like to have seen a bit more subtlety with Acevedo's character.  I just didn't completely buy that he would have that much anger focused on the Apes when the opening montage made pretty clear that everyone new who was responsible for the virus.

 

I see what you're saying, but I can believe someone reacting like that.  There are unstable people just like that living in our world today.  People that react without thinking, people that have a fear of what they don't know or can't understand.  

 

Now imagine the world as you know it completely changed and you are fighting to survive.

[tommycruise]

Every techinical aspect of this movie is amazing, and at times I couldn't even believe that these apes were made from CGI. Andy Serkis does another fine job here, and so do the other motion capture actors. The Humans are a mixed bag though, some are just not given that much to work with. Additionally the film does suffer from some pacing problems in the beginning and the music score from this was almost entirely unmemorable. It ends up being one of those films that I appreciate how well it is made and how much effort was put into it but I can't entirely shake the feeling that the movie was a little too much on the bleak side. Overall its a movie worth watching, but Im not sure if ill clamoring to rewatch it multiple times

B+

 

P.S Gary Oldmans plan seemed extremely stupid at the end, he wanted to save humanity but all his C4 did was cause some fire to shoot up the building, leaving it entirely intact and no apes dead

[Deep Wang]

Every techinical aspect of this movie is amazing, and at times I couldn't even believe that these apes were made from CGI. Andy Serkis does another fine job here, and so do the other motion capture actors. The Humans are a mixed bag though, some are just not given that much to work with. Additionally the film does suffer from some pacing problems in the beginning and the music score from this was almost entirely unmemorable. It ends up being one of those films that I appreciate how well it is made and how much effort was put into it but I can't entirely shake the feeling that the movie was a little too much on the bleak side. Overall its a movie worth watching, but Im not sure if ill clamoring to rewatch it multiple times

B+

 

P.S Gary Oldmans plan seemed extremely stupid at the end, he wanted to save humanity but all his C4 did was cause some fire to shoot up the building, leaving it entirely intact and no apes dead

 

There were dead apes.

[chasmmi]

Also Oldman was stopped before he planted as much  C4 as he planned to I believe.

 

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Hmm. Actually dropped it from a B- after seeing it down to to a C+ after waking up. Thin plot. Thin characters. It was nice to see the morals blurred. Really not much to this movie. Hoping some richer characters are invented and populate to the 3rd entry. Hoping to see a better marriage/examination of sci-fi/post-apocalypse rather than war/post-apocalypse.

 

Digitally rendered apes looked phenomenal. Some harrowing action beats. Toby Kebbell's Koba stands apart as the most nuanced player in the picture. The movie felt small. As always, grade could jump up with subsequent viewings. The jaded morals of the characters is far more fascinating than the characters themselves. Hoping the next entry broadens the scope and challenges more. Hoping to see more of the pseudo-science of Rise too. Or, really, any science at all. Pretty impressive how watchable Oldman and Clarke were given how little they had to work with and dull their characterizations are... Great effort by both of 'em.

Edited July 14, 2014 by JohnnyGossamer

[lilmac]

I give this movie two opposable thumbs up

[Dark Jedi Master 007]

Hmm. Actually dropped it from a B- after seeing it down to to a C+ after waking up. Thin plot. Thin characters. It was nice to see the morals blurred. Really not much to this movie. Hoping some richer characters are invented and populate to the 3rd entry. Hoping to see a better marriage/examination of sci-fi/post-apocalypse rather than war/post-apocalypse.

 

Digitally rendered apes looked phenomenal. Some harrowing action beats. Toby Kebbell's Koba stands apart as the most nuanced player in the picture. The movie felt small. As always, grade could jump up with subsequent viewings. The jaded morals of the characters is far more fascinating than the characters themselves. Hoping the next entry broadens the scope and challenges more. Hoping to see more of the pseudo-science of Rise too. Or, really, any science at all. Pretty impressive how watchable Oldman and Clarke were given how little they had to work with and dull their characterizations are... Great effort by both of 'em.

I am confused, you love the fact that the characters have jaded morals and the fact that you can't classify them into "good guys" or "bad guys." But then you claim that the characters are thin. What about them is thin? To me, all of these characters were complex. That doesn't mean each of them worked (I think they botched Koba's story) but I would argue that the film actually did a nice job fleshing out its characters.

[Wormhole]

Yeah, the characters were anything but thin. Caesar is one of the most complex, best-developed characters in recent cinema. 

 

And I disagree about the pacing being an issue as I've seen said in this thread as well. This had the best pacing of any blockbuster I've seen in the past few years. It wasn't fast-paced, but every scene was incredibly tense. 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Aside from Koba and Caesar, all of 'em are thin. The humans are downright banal. Agree to disagree regarding Caesar being one of the most complex characters in recent cinema.I didn't hate it. C+ is a passable mark from me. This spring/summer:Winter Soldier - B+/A-Amazing-Spiderman 2 - D/D+Under The Skin - A-/B+Neighbors - C+/C+Godzilla - B-/C+Future Past - B/B-Edge Of Tomorrow - B/BDragons 2 - A-/B+Trans4mers - C-/D+Snowpiercer - A-/ADawn Of The Apes - C+/B-

[Blankments]

Holy shit.

 

This movie is the definition of badass. There were so many moments when I went "oh shit." That tank shot. The Caesar Koba fight halfway through the movie. Hell, anything with Koba. Dude was the best villain for a blockbuster in a long time.

 

Serkis, Clarke, and especially Kebbell all shined. Thurston was pretty great too. Everyone else was serviceable but good. The effects were amazing, and the whole movie shined because its tight script with great characters. Reeves' direction was great too; the aforementioned tank shot was a highlight, but I also loved Malcolm going in for supplies for Caesar in the long take. It was intense.

 

Only issue I had with it was surprisingly Giacchino's score. It was very overwrought, and it's the first time I can honestly say after a Giacchino score that I wish they had got something else.

 

Nevertheless, this is easily in my top 3 of the summer, and very well could overtake X-Men and Dragon with a rewatch. A+

Edited July 15, 2014 by Blankments

[Deep Wang]

Yeah, the characters were anything but thin. Caesar is one of the most complex, best-developed characters in recent cinema. 

 

And I disagree about the pacing being an issue as I've seen said in this thread as well. This had the best pacing of any blockbuster I've seen in the past few years. It wasn't fast-paced, but every scene was incredibly tense. 

 

I didn't watch any trailers before hand(I've gotten really good at that!) and I really felt like anything could happen to anyone at any time.  Especially after marathoning the original series and knowing that shit could go down at any time.  My heart was POUNDING for a good chunk of the movie.

[RobinHood26]

I don't even know where to begin.  

 

So because I don't see the humans becoming leads, that means I'm going to cheer for them to be wiped out and put in cages?  

 

If they don't become leads and Ceaser dies, who would you root for. You don't think it would be strange to be rooting for Apes for 3 more films, while humans get put in cages and inslaved. 

 

That would work only if we hated every human character. It would also be far more interesting to transition main characters over the course of a franchise. You start out rooting for one side then sooner or later your rooting for the other

[Deep Wang]

If they don't become leads and Ceaser dies, who would you root for. You don't think it would be strange to be rooting for Apes for 3 more films, while humans get put in cages and inslaved. 

 

That would work only if we hated every human character. It would also be far more interesting to transition main characters over the course of a franchise. You start out rooting for one side then sooner or later your rooting for the other

 

I didn't care about a single one of the humans that were enslaved in the original series, why should I care about some random nobodies?

[RobinHood26]

I didn't care about a single one of the humans that were enslaved in the original series, why should I care about some random nobodies?

 

But he is still your main character. 

[Vanilla]

I love the last scene between Caesar and Clarkes character when he says that we thought we had a chance, and Caesar and him put their heads together. So sad.

[Gopher]

Liked it, didn't love it, but do I feel like it needs a rewatch. The morals are on point and quite bold for a summer blockbuster. That's great, I like seeing a movie with something to say. Matt Reeves is a magnificient director--every shot and frame carries narrative and dramatic weight. And Ceasar, Maurice and Koba are strong characters who change and whose journeys in this film carry meaning. And from a technical/design perspective this is an absolutely marvelous production. No wonder the credits add the fact that 15,000 people worked on this film. It's a stunning visual achievement. My problem is that the film is not a lot of fun. Snowpiercer is delieriously bleak yet I was cheering through the whole thing. Here, the action scenes, well designed as they were, didn't carry much excitement and carried a lot of dread. Which makes the film very admirable but not terribly ENJOYABLE. Even in comparison to the Golden Gate Bridge fight in Rise. So I'm not sure. B for now I guess.