La planète des singes : L'affrontement

I love the stories around "Planet of Apes" in their different adaptations. but "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is more than a good film from the serie. it has a powerfull, convincing, dramatic story. it has CGI as basic tool and that is fantastic for the art to use it not as jewel but as the right tool. it has the perfect cast. and it is a smart mix of parable, warning, feelings and picture of human virtues and sins. it has all the chances to be one of films proposing the new perspective about the near reality. that does it special. and more than a cityplex movie. but a good opportunity to reflect, in not conventional way, about the future of mankind. and that does it a real remarkable film.

Matt Reeves took over directing duties from Rupert Wyatt, for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes along with the third installment titled "War". What to say about his direction and visual storytelling? It's superb and he was rightfully chosen for this franchise. The screenplay is once again written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, but Mark Bomback joins them. The writing is smart and it's been both directed and written with intelligence, wanting to put research first instead of imagination first. The themes they bring up, from the script and how Matt Reeves brought that to the screen. The story and all the characters, new and old, are so rich. It stars Andy Serkis as Caesar and alongside him are a brilliant cast with Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Kirk Acevedo. With this cast of brilliant actors, comes a bunch of brilliant performances. Andy Serkis gets to do much more in the role as Caesar, verbally I mean, here he's still one of the film's highlights. But Jason Clarke, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Gary Oldman and Keri Russell stand out a lot from the human characters whilst Toby Kebbell is there alongside with Andy Serkis as having one of the best performances. You see Toby's character, Koba, was only briefly seen in the first film but is one of the leads here. Mark Hughes from Forbes stated that Kebbell's performance as Koba truly defined the film, and compared Kebbell's performance to that of Heath Ledger's as The Joker in The Dark Knight. It's one of the film's best character arcs, hugely thanks to the writing and the character's sympathetic motivations due to his history of abuse. The interesting thing is how this character have grown to be and are now cited as one of the best, most developed and sympathetic movie villains of the 2010s. All thanks to three things; Toby Kebbell's performance, the writing and Matt Reeves' direction.

In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, human survivors battle to stay alive in the wake of a deadly pandemic, while Caesar tries to maintain control over his expanding ape community.

The story has such emotional depth, it's written and directed so brilliantly that you just fall in love with the characters and world built. The visual effects are one of the reasons why it's so easy to get immersed, it looks spectacular. It also sounds spectacular, with the sound design but especially the musical score, Michael Giacchino's score is truly brilliant and works so well with the emotional drama along with the memorable sequences and action. The action sequences are terrific, directed and performed to such perfection. Matt Reeves' direction is one of the film's many highlights, I couldn't picture anyone else to helm this movie. It's shot so beautifully, with imagery that'll stay in your mind for years after you've seen this film. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was a commercial success for a reason, becoming the eighth-highest grossing film of 2014 and the highest-grossing film in the franchise. It also received numerous awards and nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.

If you decide to rewatch this film, or this whole trilogy, you might find yourself in the same boots as me. You notice the themes more than watching solely for the spectacular experience the Apes films have to offer. Theme of fatherhood is present here like the previous film, but now it's Caesar who's the father. We also see the difference of two people, who're trying to live together to find peace, but like in the real world, greed leads to questionable actions. I think this is a great film, a perfect sequel that expands on lore and its characters, a story worth telling. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a post apocalyptic SciFi film, with half its cast being Simonians, would an outsider to the franchise ever think this story and these characters would ever be more human than in other films. It's incredible from start to finish, enough tension and suspension to satisfy anyone.

Positives:

• Directing
• Andy Serkis
• Main cast
• Special effects (Specially the apes)
• Musical score
• Pacing

Negatives:

• Most of the human characters

Among Hollywood's recent output of mediocre (and in some cases: downright abysmal) remakes of Sci-Fi classics, 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' was the rare movie which stood out, for it had as much of a brain as it had a heart – plus an original approach to the well-known material and great visuals. Having said that, 'Rise' practically pales in comparison to Matt Reeves' sequel: the upcoming 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' is as close to a Science-Fiction masterpiece as a 170 million PG-13 Hollywood summer blockbuster can possibly get.

The storyline picks up ten years after we saw Ceasar and his fellow simian escapees seek refuge in the woods near San Francisco, and although the film's trailers already gave away pretty much everything that happened during that time (and alas, way too much of what will happen), I'm not going to spoil anything for those who carefully avoided watching said trailers. As with all my reviews, instead of giving away any details about the story, I'll elaborate on all other aspects of the movie.

What needs to be mentioned first is what an astonishing achievement 'Dawn' is when it comes to the use of CGI. I'm normally very critical towards the (over-)use of CGI – but the level of craftsmanship displayed here simply has to be admired. It only took me seconds to forget I was watching digital characters (brought to life through the outstanding motion-capture performances by Andy Serkis, Toby Kebbell and Judy Grier – to name but a few), and I can't begin to imagine what a task it must have been for the artists and wizards in the animation department to work on every background and every tiny little detail of every character until this level of seamlessness and reality could be achieved.

But nearly every other aspect of the movie has been realized equally well: Michael Giacchino's haunting musical score fits and reflects the drama on screen perfectly, while the – often terrifying – beauty of the images on screen had me immediately wondering who the DoP was (now I know: Michael Seresin, the genius veteran DoP of such classics as 'Midnight Express' and 'Angel Heart'). When it comes to the action; well, 'Dawn' is not your usual summer blockbuster. This is no light-hearted, comic-book-style fantasy film with fun, over-the-top action scenes. What we have here is a gritty, realistic portrayal of a slowly escalating conflict, and when we do get to the battle scenes in the third act, those scenes are a spectacular, mesmerizing visual feast (and ultimately heart breaking).

But the core of this film – and also the reason why the action scenes in the third act really do have an impact and all the mayhem really gets to you – is the intelligent, skilfully told story with its well-drawn, believable characters (portrayed by equally believable actors). The tragic simian/human conflict mirrors our real – and very human – past and present day wars and social frictions in a very credible way and thus makes this film resonate far beyond what any mere Sci-Fi premise would let you expect.

So my verdict: With its beautiful imagery, highly relevant story and breath-taking effects, 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' is as close to a Science-Fiction masterpiece as its mass-audience orientated constrictions allowed it to be (which – in this case – is very close); an astonishing achievement and highly recommended. 9 stars out of 10.

Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054200841/

As someone who really enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes, expectations were high for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. And apart from a rushed ending and the underdeveloped human characters Dawn of the Planet of the Apes didn't disappoint and is just as good. It looks amazing for starters, the cinematography and lighting are of great beauty and atmosphere and the scenery is equally striking. But the visual highlight, and most likely the best thing about the film, are the special effects for the apes, that they look so real and that it's hard to believe they were done by computer is testament to how good they look. The soundtrack is haunting and rousing with no dirge-like tempos and it doesn't feel overbearing either, even with sound with as much authenticity as here. The script also impresses, it's very intelligently done and has a lot of tension and heart. What impressed even more was how simple and nuanced some of it was, like when the apes speak they only need to say a few words and it still feels like it's saying a lot, a couple of times even a sideways glance brings more impact than you'd think. The story takes a bigger and somewhat bolder approach than Rise of the Planet of the Apes and this is an instance of it working very well, especially with the visceral action sequences which are very tense and look terrific and in the incredibly intense and emotional final act. It's compelling stuff where you feel compassion for and identify with every step of the way with Caesar and his family. Matt Reeves' direction doesn't make the mistake of being overblown or lethargic, there is at least a sense that he knows what he's doing. The acting is solid, Jason Clarke and Keri Russell are charming leads and Gary Oldman while criminally underused still gives a spirited performances. But other than the special effects the other highlight is the characterisation of the apes, which is just superb especially for Caesar(who is by far and way the most relatable and most compelling character in the entire film), Andy Serkis never fails to amaze me. All in all a really well done blockbuster, although the human characters do not register anywhere near as well as the special effects and the apes characterisations. 8/10 Bethany Cox