After the terrible CGI of Transformers it's nice to see that someone is bothering to put effort into their cgi. It's nice to see that after all these years POTA is still a franchise that works if done right. The one thing that struck me about the first one wasn't the apes but John Lithgow's character and what he was going thru. It reminded me so much of watching my grandma slip away that it seemed to make the movie that much realer. I am still wondering is this really a reboot or a prequel series that ignores the sequels of the originals? There's no saying that nukes couldn't have been used at some point.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Post-release)
- Thread starter Vivek
- Start date
EvilRocketeer
Master Member
Absolutely fantastic film. Just amazed how well done this movie was. Very well acted and great cgi.
What happened to the other two men? The ones with Malcolm's family. Didn't see what happened to them
What happened to the other two men? The ones with Malcolm's family. Didn't see what happened to them
Probe Droid
Master Member
Meh. Solid acting and the CG was awe inspiring, but the characters are cookie cutter good/bad guys and the story is cliche riddled and predictable. It started off well enough but jumped the tracks after the first hour (I'll remain spoiler free) and got stupid. The first installment was far more compelling for me.
Well, did I expect to go ape over this one when I saw it ? Yes.
But did I actual manage to do that? Not quite. As to the why of that I’ll explain at the end.
Regardless, this is still a great movie, emotionally involving and technically one of the most brilliant effects films I have ever watched. The entire feature is a single magnificent testament to both the ape actors and the effect techs at Weta , because you’ll totally accept the characters you’ll see on the screen as utterly complete and real in themselves, its almost impossible now to “see the join”. Only at a couple of points was I drawn out of the film by things that didn’t quite work, but given the sheer amount of screen time given to the apetors they were just minor quibbles.
It goes without saying that Andy Serkis pulls off one of the most brilliantly empathic and humane performances I’ve ever seen, but then so do many of the ape cast, Maurice and Koba in particular stand out. Really, in a couple of years, we are simply not going to be able tell the difference between realities. What the actors manage to put into their characters and what is preserved by the motion capture is utterly there in the CGI you’ll see on the screen and that’s damn near to becoming perfectly invisible now. Brilliant work.
I really enjoyed the “2001” homage at the very beginning. And the fact the film focuses so strongly on the apes story. This is ,for want of a better parallel , a simian version of Game of Thrones and the human element is there to inject the necessary potential for conflict, but the real heart of the story lies within the apes encampment.
The slowly building tensions between Koba and Caesar, the two groups and the simmering fear and hatred triggered by misunderstanding and incident really are so relevant to today and human nature, you cannot help but be gripped by the story and the character arcs, and it all builds to a very satisfying and spectacular finale.
But I thought this is where the film could have done that bit more. It was a bit predictably written, almost beat for beat. That’s not to say its at all bad , it simply isn’t , but it was so well constructed and put together that you could see the whole picture just from a few sketchy plot outlines very early on.
“Rise” surprised but Dawn didn’t . Its visually stunning, its got an emotional humanity and intelligence to it that’s lifts it way above the utter dross that is a certain kind of summer blockbuster film at the moment and its immediately gone on to my DVD to buy list.
But while I would still give Rise a 9.5/10 ,Dawn gets a point knocked off for the storyline which I’d hoped they’d have been a little braver with. And as the third tale is now under development (hooray for that!!!) I’d like to see them end the series on a slightly more unexpected note. The very end of Dawn kind of hints towards it. As dark as you like folks!
All in all a great film ,well worth the praise its been given and a rewarding viewing.
But did I actual manage to do that? Not quite. As to the why of that I’ll explain at the end.
Regardless, this is still a great movie, emotionally involving and technically one of the most brilliant effects films I have ever watched. The entire feature is a single magnificent testament to both the ape actors and the effect techs at Weta , because you’ll totally accept the characters you’ll see on the screen as utterly complete and real in themselves, its almost impossible now to “see the join”. Only at a couple of points was I drawn out of the film by things that didn’t quite work, but given the sheer amount of screen time given to the apetors they were just minor quibbles.
It goes without saying that Andy Serkis pulls off one of the most brilliantly empathic and humane performances I’ve ever seen, but then so do many of the ape cast, Maurice and Koba in particular stand out. Really, in a couple of years, we are simply not going to be able tell the difference between realities. What the actors manage to put into their characters and what is preserved by the motion capture is utterly there in the CGI you’ll see on the screen and that’s damn near to becoming perfectly invisible now. Brilliant work.
I really enjoyed the “2001” homage at the very beginning. And the fact the film focuses so strongly on the apes story. This is ,for want of a better parallel , a simian version of Game of Thrones and the human element is there to inject the necessary potential for conflict, but the real heart of the story lies within the apes encampment.
The slowly building tensions between Koba and Caesar, the two groups and the simmering fear and hatred triggered by misunderstanding and incident really are so relevant to today and human nature, you cannot help but be gripped by the story and the character arcs, and it all builds to a very satisfying and spectacular finale.
But I thought this is where the film could have done that bit more. It was a bit predictably written, almost beat for beat. That’s not to say its at all bad , it simply isn’t , but it was so well constructed and put together that you could see the whole picture just from a few sketchy plot outlines very early on.
“Rise” surprised but Dawn didn’t . Its visually stunning, its got an emotional humanity and intelligence to it that’s lifts it way above the utter dross that is a certain kind of summer blockbuster film at the moment and its immediately gone on to my DVD to buy list.
But while I would still give Rise a 9.5/10 ,Dawn gets a point knocked off for the storyline which I’d hoped they’d have been a little braver with. And as the third tale is now under development (hooray for that!!!) I’d like to see them end the series on a slightly more unexpected note. The very end of Dawn kind of hints towards it. As dark as you like folks!
All in all a great film ,well worth the praise its been given and a rewarding viewing.
tubachris85x
Master Member
I loved the movie, yea, cliche', but it's a remake of a cliche'd movie
(spoilers ahead, matey)
Anyways, the only thing that just didn't make sense to me was the whole blowing up the tower thing. I felt it was just an excuse to get some more "tension" between the main-human character and detective Gordon over here. They set up explosives along the base of the tower and they acted like it was going to be this grand-game changing event. Dude triggers it, kills himself and the other two dudes, but what did it really do? Nothing really. Yea a few apes were killed from falling debris and such, but it didn't bring the tower down at all and really just made it an inconvenience to the battle between koba kai (forgot to sweep the leg) and ceaser salad
other than that, I really loved it.
(spoilers ahead, matey)
Anyways, the only thing that just didn't make sense to me was the whole blowing up the tower thing. I felt it was just an excuse to get some more "tension" between the main-human character and detective Gordon over here. They set up explosives along the base of the tower and they acted like it was going to be this grand-game changing event. Dude triggers it, kills himself and the other two dudes, but what did it really do? Nothing really. Yea a few apes were killed from falling debris and such, but it didn't bring the tower down at all and really just made it an inconvenience to the battle between koba kai (forgot to sweep the leg) and ceaser salad
other than that, I really loved it.
Spoilers . Lots of spoilers.
Malcom stopped them laying the rest of the C4 so they only got about half the charges planted before the explosion was triggered. Hence the failure to destroy it completely. The Oldham characters decision to suicide didn't make any sense to me at all , given he already said that the military base they had contacted were on their way. It would have been better if they had been attacked out of the darkness by Kobas soldiers , some dragging Malcom off and then leaving a horribly injured Oldham to blow himself up and taking some with him as he dies. It was one of the few moments when I went "what the.........." during the film. I thought Kobas demise was a little open ended as well. And the chimp baby tool box scene didn't feel quite right. The rest of it was, on the whole, rather excellent.
PS Makes me wonder just what the Avatar sequels will look like given the huge improvements in CGI in Dawn.
Malcom stopped them laying the rest of the C4 so they only got about half the charges planted before the explosion was triggered. Hence the failure to destroy it completely. The Oldham characters decision to suicide didn't make any sense to me at all , given he already said that the military base they had contacted were on their way. It would have been better if they had been attacked out of the darkness by Kobas soldiers , some dragging Malcom off and then leaving a horribly injured Oldham to blow himself up and taking some with him as he dies. It was one of the few moments when I went "what the.........." during the film. I thought Kobas demise was a little open ended as well. And the chimp baby tool box scene didn't feel quite right. The rest of it was, on the whole, rather excellent.
PS Makes me wonder just what the Avatar sequels will look like given the huge improvements in CGI in Dawn.
crabra comander
Master Member
Funny that you mention that, having never recalled seeing the older films, this new music seemed to bring back a feeling of nostalgia like I had heard the music before.
Kerr Avon
Master Member
Also, I have to say that the titles of these two movies really bother me. It's like the person responsible just doesn't understand the words 'rise' and 'dawn' Dawn is the beginning of something, while rise is something that exists ascends. The movie with the creation of the Simian virus should have been "Dawn" while this second one should have been "Rise" as they build their new society. They're just really named wrong.
Paul Andrew
Master Member
The word nerd in me agrees.
Paul Andrew
Master Member
Watched Rise for the first time this weekend and then we went and saw Dawn tonight. Rise was better than I expected, while Dawn was just a flat-out great film. I'm pretty impressed with what they've done so far.
TheDodgeMan
Well-Known Member
I thought it was great! Apes looked fantastic!
I think the next one will be Battle for the Planet of the Apes based on that ending.
BlobVanDam
Sr Member
I think they'll continue to avoid any overlapping names with the original, unless they come full circle with one simply called "Planet of the Apes". I'm sure there are plenty of synonyms for "battle" they could use though!
