Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.
Tubeman72 reviewedSeptember 30, 2025
In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes we are ten years further since the events in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Almost all humans were killed by a deadly virus. While the survivors tried to rebuild their lives, they did not have problems with the apes, and the apes did not have problems with them. But now the humans are running out of energy. To find new energy sources, they must go through the territory of the apes. When human and ape meet again, it is clear that the apes have evolved a lot, and their group has grown very large.
The leader of the apes is Caesar. In the first film, he already had a strong bond with a human. He did not fully lose his trust in people and wants humans and apes to live together in peace. He is even willing to help humans survive. But some apes are still very angry at humans because they were once locked up in laboratories. They no longer believe in human kindness. Because of this, war will break out.
In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes the WETA technique, also used in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, is perfected. It is amazing that no real apes are used, but everything is created digitally with WETA’s performance capture. This technique, which records expressions and movements and translates them to the computer, was also used in films like Avatar, King Kong and The Lord of the Rings. Big praise goes to Joe Letteri and his team, who made the visual effects.
Also Andy Serkis, who plays Caesar, is not new to this technique. He also played digital characters in the films mentioned above. He is again an expert in showing deep emotions, even as a character that does not really exist. The apes are much more advanced than we would expect in our world. Before, they could already talk with sign language. Now most of them can even speak full sentences.
The realistic human qualities and lifelike digital apes give the viewer a chance to fully enter this new world. The bond between humans and apes is very believable and gives the film an extra layer. The idea that life is about love, friendship and family is shown as much more important than differences between races of any kind.
Even for people who are not fans of fantasy films, this movie is worth watching. Director Matt Reeves made Dawn of the Planet of the Apes an extremely exciting and moving film, which is in no way less than its predecessor Rise of the Planet of the Apes by Rupert Wyatt.