Reviewed: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 3D (12A)

It was forty eight years ago back in 1968 that a small sci-fi movie based on a novel by French writer Pierre Boulle called ‘Planet of the Apes’ hit the cinemas and became the unexpected hit of the year. It starred the ever dependable Mr. America Charlton Heston who became famous for bringing us those immortal words “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!”

Caesar

The film was ground breaking in the unique special effects for the Ape make up which was devised by make-up artist John Chambers.  Now travel forward in time to 2011 (leap frogging the awful Tim Burton Planet of the Apes re-make in 2001, less said the better!) and audiences were wowed! once again but this time with even more stunning special effects from those nice Kiwi chaps from WETA Digital and their performance motion capture technique in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

We first saw these amazing effects being put to use by the brilliant actor, director and producer Andy Serkis breathing life into the schizophrenic Smeagol (Gollum) before our very eyes in Lord of the Rings. Serkis was a natural choice to star as the ultra-intelligent Ape Caesar in ROTPOTA. He reprises the role in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes but the Performance Capture has stepped up another level.

The new film starts 10-years after a virus has wiped out Mankind following human experiments with drugs administered to laboratory Apes and hence the pandemic is given the name of Simian Flu blaming the Apes for the destruction of the human race.

At the end of ROTPOTA we last saw Caesar retreating to the Redwood forests of North San Francisco with a growing troop of primates and we discover that Caesar has a voice.

In this sequel Caesar is now the Alpha Male of the tribe responsible for the survival and safety of the Ape community in the woods. He also has a wife Cornelia (Judy Greer) and a son Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston) plus a new arrival is on the way soon. Caesar is very much in charge and in control and he has taught the other Apes sign language and although he can talk like a human he limits this to a few short words.

All is good in the Ape village and there is an utterly outstanding hunting scene early on which will have you on the edge of your seat. The status quo is upset when a small scouting party of humans unexpectedly come across the Apes in the forest and both Ape and Human realise that their lives will change from this point. Having survived the virus a larger group of humans have started to re build a society in the city on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Their leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) has sent the scouting team led by Malcolm (Aussie Jason Clarke) to check out a hydroelectric dam which happens to be situated close to the Ape village. The humans badly need a new power resource but can they work alongside the Apes? Caesar can see that he must be a diplomat and think of the safety of the tribe and his family but to keep the respect and trust of the village he must also put on a show of strength to the humans. Will the animosity on both sides lead to all-out War?

Humans - very much alive.

Director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) builds up the tension nicely and the action scenes will kep you glued to the screen. The film was also filmed in 3D and there are a handful of amazing moments in the forest, the tower in the city and some great fight scenes but the images are still stunning if watching in 2D.

This is Caesar’s film and Andy Serkis quite rightly has star billing. The art of Performance Capture has really come into its own. Each of the Apes on screen have clearly been given a personality by the individual actors, most of which you can see in the eyes. In the early days of motion capture and CGI it was always said that sometimes the eyes look dead. Hopefully it will only be a matter of time before Performance Motion actors are recognised by the Academy and are included in the nominations for best actor / supporting actor for their skills. The other outstanding performance comes from actor Toby Kebbell who plays Koba, long-time friend and sergeant to Caesar but he is also a very disturbed and unstable Ape who hates humans and Kebbell portrays Koba with great menace. I'm surprised they didn't call him Brutus!

Koba

I don’t use this phrase lightly but ‘Mind-Blowing’ is how I would describe the amazing effects. With the advancement of movie technology it’s easy to take these films for granted and after a while you just accept that the apes are real. This sequel is much darker than its predecessor and has more of an edge. This was evident in the teaser trailer that was shown during the half time adverts in the Argentina vs Holland World Cup semi-final which sparked a number of complaints from viewers who were not expecting to see this violent clip. However, it was after the watershed and the scene was toned down from what you see in the actual film.

Caesar gets the upper hand

I absolutely loved this movie. It’s the reason you go to the cinema, to escape reality for a while and suspend your disbelief and in a nutshell ‘to be entertained’.

I recommend you go and see it and enjoy the experience.

A Foker On Film 5 out of 5.

Certificate 12A

In cinemas from July 17

Look out for our Dawn of the Planet of the Apes merchandise Competition this coming week.

HERE'S A TEASER!