{"id":1353,"date":"2014-07-13T13:38:52","date_gmt":"2014-07-13T18:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intheaudience.net\/?p=1353"},"modified":"2014-07-13T13:38:52","modified_gmt":"2014-07-13T18:38:52","slug":"dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-2014-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/intheaudience.net\/?p=1353","title":{"rendered":"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) – Film"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Follow this link<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

Set 10 years following the previous installment of the updated POTA franchise, society has collapsed under sweeping loss of human life due to the effects of the virus which was supposed to be the cure for Alzheimer’s disease and enhanced the intelligence of\u00a0the apes on whom the drugs were tested. \u00a0The genetically enhanced Apes have built their own village and the building blocks of their society, under the guidance of their leader, Caesar. \u00a0A group of Humans, lead by Malcolm, who are trying to restart a dam to produce hydroelectric power, stumble across the Apes. \u00a0 A fragile truce is negotiated. \u00a0However fear and prejudice on\u00a0\u00a0both the Human and Ape sides soon shatter that peace and spark a war to determine who will be the dominant species on Earth.<\/p>\n

This film, and its predecessor, can be set apart from the rest of the franchise because it is a true re-imagining of the story. \u00a0Where the source material is filled with heavily political overtones of totalitarianism, classism and racism which carries throughout the original franchise; the remakes have been updated with\u00a0modern socio-political issues. \u00a0 Largely, our fear of biologically engineered warfare (i.e.\u00a0fear of vaccinations, overuse of antibiotics and the general attitude of “better living through chemistry”), combined with the hot seat topics of animal testing, evolution, and humanity’s dependence on electricity (read: technology). \u00a0But enough about the why it’s is good topically.<\/p>\n

The story is well written and mostly well thought out. \u00a0 My only real complaint is that the Humans are fixated on the fact that they need to start the hydro electric plant\u00a0located\u00a0near the Ape settlement. \u00a0 It’s their “only hope” to restore the electricity on which they depend to rebuild society. \u00a0WTF, you mean to tell me that in the entire greater San Francisco area, no one has access to nor has even heard of Solar Power? \u00a0I realize the writers needed to create a reason for the two groups to interact, and it’s not a bad reason, but the gaping plot hole of “we need electricity to run our iPads but don’t\u00a0have the technology for Solar power” should have at least been addressed in passing. \u00a0The CGI was very good and needed to be as this story was very visual due to the nature of the characters. \u00a0This relied on the skill of the motion capture actors (which was abundant and evident) in each role to give life to the computer graphics.<\/p>\n

The characters develop well and logically, a few continuing to develop from the previous film. \u00a0Andy Serkis,\u00a0resuming\u00a0his motion-capture role as Caesar, once again shows the audience that a hero doesn’t need to have a lot of witty dialogue to carry a film and have a strong lead presence. \u00a0Jason Clarke, as Malcolm, the human counterpart to Caesar, offers an emotional role, set between his loyalty to the survival of his loved ones and humanity in general, and his belief that human and ape can live in peace, yet watching that peace tore apart by fear and intolerance. \u00a0 Toby Kebbell gives an intense\u00a0performance as Koba, the ape so scarred, both physically and mentally, from years of experimentation.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed that the soundtrack reflected the score from the original series as well as the balance of action and intrigue.<\/p>\n

I gave the film 4 1\/2 banana milk shakes.
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