It’s been ten years since the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and humanity is not doing well. The so-called “Simian Flu” has pretty much wiped out everyone except for patches of people that are immune to the virus.
In San Francisco, a group of these survivors are in search of a new power source in the woods when they stumble upon a group of highly intelligent apes led by Caesar. After not-so-politely asking them to leave, the group of humans scurry back down into their makeshift city. As they let others in the city know of what they saw, an instant uproar amongst the people begins and war is immediately the only answer. “Let’s take them out before they take us out” sort of becomes the mantra of the people.
Caesar and his backup ride horseback into the city to angrily tell the humans to keep their distance and never come back. Humans live here, apes live there. Simple enough rules.
Knowing that they only have about three weeks worth of resources left and that the dam in the woods could provide the power they need to continue to rebuild, Malcolm (Jason Clarke) takes it upon himself to go back to the woods to plead with Caesar. If the apes will let him and a small group of humans work on the dam for a bit, once fixed they will leave and never come back. Caesar takes a chance and trusts the humans, angering other apes in the process. Caesar must then fight to preserve peace amongst the ape community.
Filled with a ton more action and even better CGI than Rise, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes fits in perfectly with this summer’s collection of good sequels. Top notch performances from Jason Clarke and Gary Oldman, and most of all Andy Serkis’ amazing vocal and facial expressions are back! Every time Caesar spoke I swear I got goosebumps. The story is solid, and though it’s slightly predictable at times it does a good job of setting up a future installment.
If you’re one to stay after the credits there is a nifty sound bite that may be an indication as to where the story is headed (though I think we all have a pretty good idea).
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes stars Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, and Keri Russell. Written by Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver. Directed by Matt Reeves. In Theaters July 11.
