By Geno McGahee
The 1968 PLANET OF THE APES, with the amazing Charlton Heston with a writing credit to the TWILIGHT ZONE creator, Rod Serling, was a timeless classic. Serling knew how to strike a chord with the people. He played on their fears, included the nuclear threat that was on everyone’s mind at that time and wrapped it up with a very TZ ending.
The apes have a big following and that led to many sequels that were never as successful or as good as the original. It was only a matter of time before we saw a remake and in 2001, Tim Burton got his claws into it and the rest was cinematic tragedy. It was about as bad as it gets, proving that Burton’s approach did not work here and, arguably, doesn’t work very well to begin with. That’s another story. I’m not going to use this review to trash Burton.
It took ten years for Hollywood to revisit the apes and came up with RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, which was a prequel to the 1968 classic and it understood the storyline and gave a very respectful effort. It wasn’t a bad movie and it was enough to build upon. They have lost Burton’s number and have moved forward with good storyline with a gritty backdrop. What they did in 1968, they followed here with this one, playing on common fears and having a memorable ending.
Three years after the true return of the apes, we get DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. It takes place after a lab-created virus wiped out most of humanity while making apes smarter and more of a powerful presence on the planet. There is tension between the two groups and there are assholes on each side that want to fight the idea of peace. Caesar (Andy Serkis) leads the apes but they are blocking a dam that the humans want to get going so they can have power again. Malcolm (Jason Clarke) befriends Caesar and the humans are allowed to work on the dam. This doesn’t sit well with Koba (Toby Kebbell), a former lab chimp that has not forgiven and forgotten what has happened to him. He wants revenge on humanity.
Koba’s hatred for humanity starts a war between the two sides. He shoots Caesar and blames the humans for it, igniting a war where the apes get guns and the humans attempt to keep them at bay. Caesar barely lives through the attack and is able to rally his apes to bring peace back to the land. Malcolm has to deal with the humans that want the apes all killed.
There are a lot of messages and reflection on society with this film. The false flag leading to war may be commentary on the thoughts that 9/11 was a false flag that led to war. It shows how the public (in this case, the apes) can be led by fear. There is an anti-gun message going on here, which is also a very hot topic here. All things considered, they approached this film with the same mindset that Serling did. They looked around at what scares people and played on it. They followed trends and tried to send a message that we should all get along and avoid conflict if possible.
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is a great follow up to the 2011 entry, proving that this series, if done correctly, has plenty of life left in it and can go on. I was impressed with it. It’s really dark and negative at times, but it ends with hope, which is very reflective of our time. They really got it here. It’s old and new at the same time. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 7.5/10
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