Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

[AimingforYoko]

Excellent movie. Of the higher primates, Jason Clarke stands out. Of course Oldman chews his scenery quite thoroughly and Kirk Acevedo has some moments as an ape-hater(Speciesist?) But obviously, the reason everybody is going to see this movie is to see the Apes and as usual, Andy Serkis comes through in spades. Also the CGI is pretty much flawless. It ends on a pretty downer note, but I do want to see the next installment. 

[A Boston Gal]

AfY, I certainly agree, and am on the side of the argument that Andy Serkis should at least be eligible for an Oscar nomination. He was absolutely mesmerizing.

 

PS: Judy Greer was in this movie as someone named Cornelia? Was she Caesar's wife? Or was she a human in the city that I missed seeing when I made a quick trip to the ladies' room?

Edited July 12, 2014 by A Boston Gal

[bluvelvet]

Loved this movie, it ended unexpectedly but I am eagerly looking forward to the next installment. Andy Serkis as Ceaser had me mesmerized and while Koba was wrong I understood where he was coming from.

I do feel that war was inevitable between the two species with or without Koba's interference.

Edited July 12, 2014 by bluvelvet

[benteen]

I thought Apes was great! The CGI work on them has become amazing and they completely carry the film. Even more impressive is how the movie relies on sign language and subtitles. It's a terrific way to help tell the story. Serkis's work continues to remain top-notch and I was so glad to see the character of Maurice back.

 

Also good, some of the motivations here actually make sense.  I understood why Oldman's character acted the way he did and I can understand Koba's hatred and distrust of the humans.

[Rick Kitchen]

I have to wonder if people who write reviews ever watch the movies they review.  The newspaper review I read talked about Gary Oldman leading a fascist society.  I sure didn't see any signs of that.  They also said they never heard Keri Russell's character's name.  Uh, it's Ellie.  They said it.

 

As mentioned above, the cgi is phenomenal.

 

But:

Andy Serkis - England

Jason Clarke - Australia

Gary Oldman - England

Toby Kebbell - England

Kodi Smit-McPhee - Australia

 

Are there no American actors?

[TigerLynx]

I understood Koba's hatred of the humans, and Caesar was right that humans destroy themselves.  Humans torturing and experimenting on Koba was the reason he hated them, humans created the virus (simian flu) that killed so many humans, and the reaction of the humans to discovering the apes was to shoot one of them, and then go to the armory to get more weapons.  Caesar's comment about how the apes are more like the humans than he wanted to believe was nice foreshadowing for what will happen in the future.

[benteen]

I have to wonder if people who write reviews ever watch the movies they review.  The newspaper review I read talked about Gary Oldman leading a fascist society.  I sure didn't see any signs of that.  They also said they never heard Keri Russell's character's name.  Uh, it's Ellie.  They said it.

 

As mentioned above, the cgi is phenomenal.

 

But:

Andy Serkis - England

Jason Clarke - Australia

Gary Oldman - England

Toby Kebbell - England

Kodi Smit-McPhee - Australia

 

Are there no American actors?

 

Keri Russell.  As a matter of fact, she's one of The Americans. ;)

 

A fascist society?  Nice to see a critic prove that they don't pay attention to the movies they review.  What I liked about Oldman's character is that his motivations actually made sense.  He wanted to get to that damn to provide power for the city, not to wipe out the apes.  He gives Jason Clarke's character the time he needs.  And when he makes his decision at the end, it makes sense after what just happened.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Hope they submit Serkis's name for Ocsar consideration again.

Like they did for the previous from LM.

Correction, previous film.

[Rick Kitchen]

It was interesting that Serkis got top billing.

 

Keri Russell.  As a matter of fact, she's one of The Americans. ;)

 

And her co-star, Matthew Rhys, is Welsh.  :)

[GHScorpiosRule]

Haven't seen this yet, but it's on my list.  But was wondering if someone could explain something to me that I saw in the previews/trailers.

 

Caesar still has that camera, where you see him as a baby and James Franco's character teaching him. Since they're all living in the forests, how was he able to keep the battery charged for him to rewatch it? I mean, it's been 10 years, right?

[AimingforYoko]

The camera was in the attic of Franco's house and it charged up when the power was restored.

Edited July 13, 2014 by AimingforYoko

[midge]

AfY, I certainly agree, and am on the side of the argument that Andy Serkis should at least be eligible for an Oscar nomination. He was absolutely mesmerizing.

 

PS: Judy Greer was in this movie as someone named Cornelia? Was she Caesar's wife? Or was she a human in the city that I missed seeing when I made a quick trip to the ladies' room?

Yes, Cornelia was Caesar's wife.  I was waiting the whole movie for someone to say her name! 

 

But that was a nit in an otherwise really great movie.   The last one I thought was good but so incredibly depressing I have never wanted to see it again.   This one is better then the first, I found it really intense and Serkis and Kebbell were unbelievable.  But it will be a long time before I want see this one again too.   

[GHScorpiosRule]

The camera was in the attic of Franco's house and it charged up when the power was restored.

 

Ohhh. Thanks AimingforYoko.  I thought he'd had it all these years, from the trailers. I should know better!

[benteen]

Ohhh. Thanks AimingforYoko.  I thought he'd had it all these years, from the trailers. I should know better!

 

It would have been funny is Caesar had found a video of Franco in The Pineapple Express.

[Frisson]

I went into this not having seen any previews or knowing the specifics of the plot and wondered if the whole movie could be in subtitles and sign language. Is it likely that the next installment will have a human component as well, or could the movie be successful focusing on only the apes?

I found the movie to be very emotional, seeing how each character made the choices they did and almost feeling a sense of inevitability in the future extinction of humans.

[TigerLynx]

Since the Apes movies started in a different order this time around, I wonder if we are going to get scenes like the ones with Charlton Heston/Taylor.

 

Cornelius:  "This peculiar habit you humans have of murdering each other.  Ape does not kill ape." - which is now not true.

 

“Beware of man, he will make a wasteland of your home and his.”

 

“He will find his destiny.” – Taylor finds the statue of liberty and realizes he never left Earth.

 

 

[Rick Kitchen]

 

Cornelius:  "This peculiar habit you humans have of murdering each other.  Ape does not kill ape." - which is now not true.

 

Well, Caesar did say that Koba was not an ape.

[Luckylyn]

I really enjoyed it and never got bored.  There's one plot hole that bugs me.  Why isn't solar power an option?  There must be tons of unused solar panels sitting in factories.  Why must it be the dam or nothing?

[spaceytraci1208]

Finally saw this tonight. Very different from the first movie, but I loved it all the same.

The scene with Caesar watching the video of himself and Will tugged at my heart a bit.

Did anyone else almost expect Caesar to have a Rocky IV-style training montage in the attic to prepare for his showdown with Koba? Lol

The scenes where Koba played "Stoopid Monkey" to get the humans to let their guard down were brilliant.

Edited July 27, 2014 by spaceytraci1208

[Enero]

We saw this last night. It was okay. A little bit too long. I could understand Koba's anger but to "kill" his leader then destroy the home that he and the other apes had built due to his thirst for revenge, destroyed any sympathy I had for him.

Though I enjoyed seeing Caesar's life and family and sympathized with him and his supporters, I also sympathized with the humans as well. I could understand Dreyfuss' choices. He wasn't a bad man at all, but like Caesar, in the end was trying to save his people.

Speaking of people, what happened to all the people that were being held captive, was that everyone from the human camp that escaped when Blue Eye's released the apes who were loyal to his father? And where did the humans go after they escaped?

Edited July 27, 2014 by Enero

[Cobb Salad]

Speaking of people, what happened to all the people that were being held captive, was that everyone from the human camp that escaped when Blue Eye's released the apes who were loyal to his father? And where did the humans go after they escaped?

I finally saw it this afternoon and enjoyed it a lot. I have to see it again when it comes out on DVD. In comparison to the original sequels this one is head and shoulders above them especially in the complexity of the battles between human and ape and the internal conflicts within both groups. I'm looking forward to the next movie.

At the end when Malcolm tells Caesar we made contact and reinforcements are coming, he must leave but Caesar tells Malcolm to leave instead I took that to mean all of the humans should leave.