Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Directed by: Matt Reeves
Country: USA

Movie Review: Media franchise ‘Planet of the Apes’ has its continuity with “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, this time by the hand of Matt Reeves (“Cloverfield”, “Let Me In”), using a script with more deepness and avoiding relying solely on battle scenes and frivolous situations. Evincing competent technical aspects, the film puts humans and apes face-to-face, where this time around the greediness of ones are matched by the thirst of revenge of some of the others. A team of humans, leaded by the good-natured Malcolm, is assigned to convince the apes to give them access to their land, Muir Woods, where an old dam requires reparation in order to supply power to the city of San Francisco. Caesar, the judicious chief of the apes, agrees with the proposition, but the terrible Koba breaks the pact of peace previously celebrated and decides to act according his own rules. The constant changes about trust and distrust, and imminent threat of war, are what maintain the tension high throughout the film. I must tell I didn’t feel any special vibration or enthusiasm while watching it and the performances were just reasonable for the genre. However, the indignation consumed me and I regretted as much as Malcolm and Caesar, that the two intelligent species couldn’t avoid the war. Some gloomy images are mesmerizing, in a film that concluded its story in a suitable way for the sequel that will come in two years, directed once again by Matt Reeves. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” was sufficiently absorbing, and despite solidly recommended, is far from the masterpiece it aspired to be.