Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Review

10 years after the Simian Flu outbreak, Caesar and his growing population of genetically altered apes is confronted by humans nested in a nearby compound as they struggle to survive. After briefly coming to peace, a war begins between apes and humans to determine which is Earth's dominant species in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.


I was excited for this one primarily because I am a fan of Planet of the Apes in general. I liked the old movies and I really liked Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Now that I have seen Dawn I think that this is well on its way to becoming a dominant new take on the story.
The effects were spot on, the new characters and actors were a nice change, and it had a fairly interesting plot. My main complaint about this movie was timing, though. It seemed to take a very long time to even get to the real conflict and climax of the plot. I understand they wanted to focus on the progress Caesar made with the apes, but that seemed to surpass the struggles humans have faced over the past 10 years.

As far as the plot goes, the basics of it revolved around Malcolm who was given the task to regenerate a nearby dam so the compound could restore electricity and try to find other survivors or compounds. That's all well and good until Caesar is pressured by his ape council, primarily the former lab-monkey Koba, to show dominance over the humans. Caesar struggles with it ultimately pushing Koba away as well as inadvertently threatening the humans.
I will say the main wasted character, in terms of screentime and development, was Gary Oldman's character Dreyfus. The marketing built him up to be this major villain and ape hater but in reality he was hardly in the movie. He made a couple speeches and helped in the battle between apes and humans but he wasn't really a main character. I don't think any of the humans were really main characters other than Malcolm. This was truly an ape story and those apes were the main characters. I liked seeing Caesar's family and his interactions with his son. I also liked the brief return to James Franco's character and, I won't lie, it made my eyes a bit misty.

The main battle scene and the short events leading up to it were fantastic, but like I said before it seemed like we were waiting forever to get there. There was a point where I was sitting in my chair thinking, when is this going to pick up? When will someone fuck with Caesar or when will one of the apes go rogue and betray him? It was a long wait. 

Overall I don't think I would say this one was better than Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but it was still very good. Definitely worth seeing.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Trailer

We finally have a full trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and it looks pretty damn good.

New poster for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

This is getting exciting.

We also have a new TV spot.

Planet of the Apes receives 2016 date

Now for some release date news we got today.

• In addition to the announcement that Matt Reeves will direct a third installment of Planet of the Apes, we now have an official release date. The third installment is set to hit theaters on July 29, 2016.

• Next up, we have an official release date for the Poltergeist reboot. The horror rehash will hit theaters on February 13, 2015. Yes, that is the same weekend as Fifty Shades of Grey.

• To avoid too much competition for the Valentine's Day weekend, Fox has shifted the newest Nicholas Spark's adaptation, The Longest Ride, from February 13, 2015 to April 3, 2015. 

We also got minor, assumed, confirmation that Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana will return for the Avatar sequels. Plot details for the sequel have yet to be released, but we do know that their characters will have children and will be filmed entirely in New Zealand. We won't see Avatar 2 until 2016 while Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 are set for 2017 and 2018. 

Matt Reeves to direct third Planet of the Apes

Fox must have some crazy confidence in Matt Reeves as they have signed him to return and direct a third Planet of the Apes film. This comes before the second, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, has even been released. Reeves stepped in to direct the sequel after Rupert Wyatt departed the planned trilogy after Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The upcoming follow up takes place 15-years after the events of the first film. In addition to the news of Reeves returning, it is also possible that he might co-write the screenplay with Mark Bomback.


Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is set for release on July 11, 2014.

SDCC: First image from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

We got our first image of Caesar from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Such a tongue twister.

Director Matt Reeves warned guests at Comic-Con that the footage of the apes was limited due to the fact that it takes 10-12 weeks to render a single ape, but we do have enough to see Caesar wearing some war paint. I still think the apes look ridiculously real. I am excited for this one.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes starts on July 18, 2014.

#SDCC #PlanetOfTheApes #20thCenturyFox

Judy Greer joins Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Judy Greer (Archer, Arrested Development) has joined the cast of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The catch? She has landed the role of the lead female ape named Cornelia. Yes, that means she will be doing some motion capture work with Andy Serkis.

Other cast members include Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Jason Clarke. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is set for release on May 23, 2014.

Casting news for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Not only will Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (damn that is a tongue twister) take place 15 years after the first film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but it now has its first star. Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, Lawless, Public Enemies) has been cast in a lead role in what has said to be a story about human scientists struggling to survive alone in San Francisco. The plot is unconfirmed as director Matt Reeves is keeping it tightly under wraps, but either way it should be interesting. Especially since it seems like James Franco will not be returning to star in the sequel.

Look forward to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes which is set for release on May 23, 2014 in 3D.