Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on July 16, 2014 @ tonymacklin.net.

The National Rifle Apes organization loves Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

The members are giddy that even the apes now know they must be armed. No damned gun restrictions for them. CEO Wayne LaKoba is one happy ape.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has endless firepower - it's a potent commercial for gun ownership.

That tree-hugging ape Caesar wants peace for a while, but he comes to the realization that weaponry must out. Whoever doubted that Ape Constitutional right?

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes up ten years after Rise of The Planet of the Apes. The world has been decimated by Simian Flu, which scientists created when they tested apes in the name of progress. We all know that real progress is going back.

Still surviving are humans led by Dreyfus (Gary Oldman), but their community is fading and will be without fuel in two or three weeks. They must reach a dam and power plant, which potentially can restore electricity and save their lives.

In their way are the apes, led by Caesar (Andy Serkis). Caesar is more open to humans than the other apes, because he was raised by a good man. But the other apes, led by Koba (Toby Kebbell), are fearful and susceptible to fury.

Trying to reach the dam to try to restore electricity is a small group headed by Malcolm (Jason Clarke). He is accompanied by others, including his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a nurse (Keri Russell), and of course a patented villain Carver (Kirk Acevedo). Carver is volatile and impulsive, and of course dangerous.

Humans have their Carver; apes have their Koba. Arm them, and see what happens. It leads to wonderful mayhem.

Of course, there's the generic 20 minutes of wordless slaughter and explosion. Can't forget the foreign market. An explosion is worth a thousand words. Can you imagine what a thousand explosions are worth?

The 4 or 5 credited writers throw away the script for at least 20 minutes. Why speak when you can blow things up and shoot everything in - and out of - sight? That's the universal language.

Fortunately director Matt Reeves has a short fuse.

The performance capture acting by Serkis and about a dozen other apes is impressive. The other 2,000 apes are entirely CGI. Special effects masters Joe Letteri and Dan Lemmon return.

Clarke brings an earthy humanity to his role. Oldman could be entirely CGI for the little acting he does.

The film does have moments of tender communication that give it some heart.

And Caesar, the Superhero of the apes, is stalwart. He has a miraculous healing power that transcends bullets.

But don't worry, he comes to realize that war is inevitable.

In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes the dawn is darkest before the war. Things are looking up.

Let's go ape.