Belser Movie Reviews: “DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES"(Spoiler-Free)

BELSER MOVIE REVIEWS: “DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES” (Spoiler-Free)

What's up, peoples? It's your boi " The Belser",  back with "that hot jive on the movie side "once again to give you guys and gals here at Comicbookmovie.com  a taste of my 'expertise". Loving the  positive feedback from the first few articles I've done on here and it is much appreciated on this end.  One thing I saw was that I talk about movies like somebody with a passion for them. That is very much the truth. But enough of the ego stroking...On with the review.....

Now, just to put it out there, I was never a huge fan of the Planet of the Apes movies as a kid. I’ve seen the very first one from the 60’s with Charlton Heston and a few of the sequels. I was pleasantly surprised by the first movie and figured, “what the hell? I got nothing to do”.  So , I just finished a midnight show of this flick and Man….I absolutely loved it.

HERE’S THE STORY

After ALZ-113 virus was released in the first movie (RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES in 2011), different news reports show the fall of mankind at epidemic levels. After some years pass, the main ape from the first one (“Caesar”) is now the leader of a new generation of apes, including some of the apes he freed from the ape sanctuary in the first one. After years with no contact with humans, a small party of survivors from San Francisco find themselves face to face with the apes. At first, Caesar forbids the humans from entering their territory but the party's leader, Malcolm, attempts to make peace with the apes so they can get to a hydroelectric generator at a dam in the ape territory. If it works, it can provide power to the humans for different uses, including communication with the outside world.  However, mistrust begins to surface on both sides in the forms of both the human leader Dreyfus (played by Gary Oldman) and Caesar’s ape lieutenant Koba (who had been experimented upon  and scarred by humans). While Caesar and Malcolm want a chance for peace with the humans and apes, both sides still find  themselves in preparation for an all-out war for the survival of each other’s species.

ACTING 

Now, all the performances were very solid . Jason Clarke, who plays Malcolm, does a great job as well as Keri Russell( "FELICITY") who plays his wife.  Gary Oldman, who plays the human leader Dreyfus, does what Gary Oldman does: Act his ass off. He plays the underlying sadness and desperation of the character so well that even though he’s technically an antagonist to the apes, you feel sympathetic to his plight. He’s just a man thrust into a leadership role and trying to scrape by with the little resources he has. The real standout of this movie, just like in the first one,  was Andy Serkis as Caesar.  The performance he gives using the CGI and motion capture technology is AMAZING. I will go so far as say OSCAR-WORTHY. The character himself has matured  (he now has a family) and has developed a commanding demeanor. Whenever he’s on screen, you can't take your eyes off him. He projects a firm but fair presence among the apes, like Mufasa in the Lion King.  


DIALOGUE

This is a very ,VERY well written and directed movie. I was fully engaged on both sides of the conflict, I understood their motivations and I anticipated the coming battle. The most of the ape scenes had very little or no dialogue and communication was conveyed through grunts, howls and sign language (with subtitles). You really get emotional with them in certain moments.


SPECIAL EFFECTS  

All the special effects were FANTASTIC. I love how they don’t used actors in make-up or animal suits. Instead, they used motion performance capture (like in video games) based on real apes.  I loved all the realistic ape movement, (everything from the muscles to wrinkles on their faces). I also dug how they aged San Francisco and made it look so dystopian (vines everywhere, buildings and landmarks half destroyed). They even had the apes riding horses with spears (like in the old 70’s movies). Very cool look. 

THE FINAL WORD 

Would I watch this again? That would be a HELL YES! This has to be one of the overall best movies I’ve seen this year. Go check it out. Very much worth the money. This movie definitely GETS the Belser Seal of Approval.

Dont' forget to check out the Belser Movie Reviews group page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/belsermoviereviews