Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 3D

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 3D (12A) review

STAR TURN: Andy Serkis is amazing as Caeser.

Isn’t it great when a massively hyped film actually delivers?

I haven’t looked forward to a film as much as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes for quite some time – and it was everything that I wanted and hoped for.

Set around ten years after the events of 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a global pandemic “Simian Flu” – which is the same virus that facilitated the Apes’ rise – has wiped out huge amounts of the human race.

And while they’ve been forced to exist in situations akin to the dark ages, the Apes have flourished in their own ‘city’ based in the woods outside of San Francisco.

Led by the returning Caeser (Andy Serkis), the Apes almost seem more civilised that humans – who they haven’t seen for two winters.

You’ll recognise Koba (Toby Kebbell), Maurice (Karin Konoval), and Rocket (Terry Notary) from the original, but the amount of Apes living in this forest is off the scale.

In contrast, the clutch of humans based in a small slice of San Francisco are toiling and running out of power.

Their only hope is to access an old dam that will restore power to their home… but that dam is smack bang in the middle of Apeville.

That leads to an uneasy alliance between Caeser and a small clutch of humans, fronted by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), but it’s fair to say that they are the only two preventing all-out war.

You’ll have no doubt seen from the exhaustive trailers that peace doesn’t last long – and boy does it kick off later in the 2.10hr epic.

Anyone sceptical about the Apes being central characters in this Matt Reeves directed classic really shouldn’t be.

There are extensive scenes without any ‘human’ involvement – and I personally found them to be the highlights. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that Serkis’ performance as Caeser is as good as it gets.

One of my worries pre-film was the lack of big name actors attached to the project, with Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight) playing quite a small (ish) role as prominent human figure Dreyfus.
But Caeser owns the screen as a leader that looks to have the world on his shoulders.

Kebbell’s performance as Koba is also top notch. He’s loyal to Caeser but, as with many of the Apes, has no love for humans after enduring years of experiments and torture. It’s for that reason that you almost find yourself rooting for the Apes at times.

They also look so real. The visuals on show throughout are nothing short of exceptional, delivering a number of iconic moments.

A particular scene where Caeser marches into town – on horseback – and issues the humans with an ultimatum – in English – was absolutely breath-taking.

I honestly have nothing bad to say about any element of this film – and would urge fans of all genres to give it a go. 2014 has been a great year for cinema so far, but this is comfortably my highlight.

I’m already looking forward to the next in the series.

Rating: 5/5
(Watched at West End Cinema, Boston)