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Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

★★★☆☆
Three Stars

Like the apes of the title, first impressions of this big-budget blockbuster suggest an exercise in simplicity, yet on closer inspection it reveals high minded concerns lurking just beneath the surface. Arriving midway through the summer blockbuster season, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, a sequel to 2011’s surprise smash Rise of the Planet of the Apes, departs from the traditional action movie formula by featuring a large ensemble cast and non-human protagonists. The subtlety of the film’s examination of the precarious co-existence of differing groups of people is refreshing, and though this is supported by great work from its director, motion capture cast and effects team, the film ends up an uneasy marriage of social commentary and blockbuster bravado thanks to its undercooked narrative.

The plot concerns itself with two societies living side by side after an outbreak of “simian flu” has wiped out untold millions of people. Surviving in a San Francisco mall is a depleted human community led by Gary Oldman’s Dreyfus, whilst in the mountains to the north of the city, Caesar, played by Andy Serkis, leads a fledgling tribe of apes who have developed primitive language, weapons and organisation. The film follows both groups as tensions mount and internal conflicts threaten the balance of power as the humans attempt to restore a hydroelectric dam deep in ape territory, whilst fears amongst the apes regarding human motivations give rise to an opportunist coup.

That the film can be enjoyed as a populist blockbuster or as an allegory of the tensions of colonialism and Western foreign policy is a testament to an ambitious script. However, director Matt Reeve’s interest in the social commentary occasionally threatens to derail the film’s pace, particularly in the second act, when the internal power struggles that lead to the inevitable Simian coup mire the plot in repetitive confrontations between Caesar and his rival, Koba. Furthermore, the human cast are saddled with embarrassingly transparent scenes which attempt to add depth to their characters by spelling out motivations and backstories which do little but thematically underline the more interesting simian sub-plots, whilst characters are introduced who serve no purpose but to antagonise the apes and thus unnecessarily complicate the plot. Moreover, the disappearance of two central human characters midway through the third act serves to further negate the presence of these vaguely drawn human stories. Ultimately however, the time invested in establishing the precariousness of Caesar’s power pays off in a satisfying, though, by blockbuster standards, surprisingly intimate finale where the majority of the human and simian story strands combine to deliver a poignant and violent resolution, even if the ending feels more like an attempt to artificially extend the franchise than to conclude the story sincerely.

From the opening close-up of Caesar’s determined gaze to the climactic crowd scenes of hundreds of charging apes, the success of the film is inseparable from the convincingness of its effects, and thankfully they’re mostly successful. The opening 15 minutes, amongst the film’s most compelling, are carried entirely and effortlessly by motion captured characters, and the combination of jaw-droppingly real CGI and great performances gradually reveal the relationships, personalities and emotions of the well differentiated primates, who are never less than entirely convincing on screen. That Reeves allows the film’s emotional climax to play almost entirely in close ups of two motion captured characters speaks to the strengths of both the actors and the effects team; that it works is even more surprising. Devoting so much time to the intelligent and complex internal struggles of these characters brings out their emerging humanity, allowing the climactic showdown featuring hordes of machine gun totting chimps to never seem too ridiculous. 

Regarding the performances, Serkis leads an incredible motion capture cast who ground the apes with a human expressiveness that never seems incongruous. Every glance and facial twitch registers on Caesar’s face, perfectly expressing his conflicting desires. Elsewhere Nick Thurston delivers a soulful performance as Blue Eyes, Caesar’s son, bringing life to a stock coming-of-age arc by imbuing his character with palpable anger and indecision. Toby Kebbel also shines as Koba, creating a formidable and fearsome villain that is nevertheless grounded in understandable frustration. It’s unfortunate then that such strong simian performances are not matched by the uninspiring human cast. The greatest weakness is Jason Clarke’s bland performance as the human lead, which feels ineffectual and often seems lost amongst the special effects. Elsewhere, Gary Oldman cashes a cheque in a throwaway role that feels unnecessarily expanded to justify his presence, whilst Keri Russell is hampered by a part that allows her to do little else than express concern, in a film that values its female characters solely by their nurturing instincts. Of the humans, only Kodi Smit-McPhee delivers a credible turn in a supporting role as a sweet-natured teen who crosses the man-ape divide.

Like most blockbusters then, the human drama of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes does little to engage audiences, but instead it differentiates itself from the pack by offering up fascinating insights and a complex, biblical family drama that unfolds amongst a cast of faultlessly realised non-human characters. Disappointingly however, the film’s quietly pacifistic message seems at odds with the sheer joy it knowingly engineers in such scenes, like a rampaging monkey driving a tank through the centre of San Francisco. Ultimately though, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes succeeds on its sheer dedication to subverting expectations, engaging the mind and heart even as it capitulates to the bombastic conventions of more generic summer fare.

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