Krishna
What a brilliant movie! I thought that the reboot of the Planet of the Apes, the first movie which was released in 2004, Dawn of The Planet of the Apes was absolutely brilliant. When I heard that this sequel was coming out, initially I did not even want to see this because, in my mind, the first story is fully complete, with lovely characterizations and an ending that looks complete. (Can you remember Caesar and the almost equally impressive Koba?) What else can be said of the story that has not been said in that movie.
But because the first movie was so impressive, I decided to give this a view and am glad I did. Because, it looks as if the story writers have plenty to say about that world. This story happens 15 years later than the first movie and is exhilarating right from the very first scene where the human army tries to ambush the ape troop and the fight that ensues. It does not let up until the very end.
The characters are as interesting. You see the turncoat ape Red (who is constantly humiliated by the humans – being called ‘donkey’ is the mildest of them) helping humans. When they lose and are captured, Caesar pardons them and sends them back, so that the humans can “learn” that the apes are peaceful creatures and want only to coexist with the humans, albeit segregated. That, as some of you would have suspected, dangerously backfires. The sudden attack by fortified human army is chilling and your sympathy is completely with the apes and against the humans – funny, considering that you are human. That is the magic of the film.
I can tell you more of the story – the story goes through mind boggling action sequences, hopelessness when troves of the monkeys and, later, Caesar himself is captured and how it ends – but that would spoil your enjoyment. Instead, I will talk about some of the movie features.
It is brilliantly written and directed. The sentences are short, sharp and delivered with effect. The characters are lovely. There are some apes (presumably not as evolved) that communicate by sign language and some that can speak.
The super villain in this movie is Colonel McCollough, played beautifully by Woody Harrelson. He seems to be four steps ahead of Caesar and his apes. He causes Caesar to lose family members in a surprise raid when the apes were sleeping and also later, as I said, is the cause of the troop’s capture.
The ‘thief’ of their kit, called Bad Ape is an interesting creature and is of invaluable help to the three lone apes searching to rescue their comrades, later. They realize that the Colonel himself has other human enemies and at the critical moment, a three way battle ensues. The storytelling, the scenes, the dialog, the emotions all make it stand out as an outstanding movie. I will have no hesitation in declaring this as at least as good as the first movie. Well done, guys.
8/10
– – Krishna