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.
Varun reviewedOctober 19, 2024
This is hands down one of the best blockbuster movies ever made. I didn’t think this would reach masterpiece status for me before I watched it. Full spoilers ahead. That 2 minute intro had me thankful I survived Covid and quarantine. And then the eyes of Caesar pop up on the screen and instantly made me excited. There’s only one word needed to describe his presence, BADASS. This is one of the best auras a character has exuded in movie history. He not only commands the family of all apes, but also each second and frame of this movie. That early scene where he just stands up to show his dominance towards Koba, it literally made me wanna bow down to him too. How many other blockbuster movies have characters that reach out to your emotions like that? The apes’ home was really well designed. The cityscape reminded me so much of The Last of Us. There was lots of moral complexity here, being careful not to portray humans and apes as just good or bad, and that makes for a much more interesting and unpredictable conflict. Koba is such a good villain with a really convincing case for his viewpoint at the start of the film that leads to an unredeemable descent into cruelty. All the other characters were great too, from Maurice to Blue Eyes and even the humans. They explored tons of themes here. All it takes is one asshole or saboteur to ruin the peace of hundreds. The role of military power plays a big role in the volatility of territorial disputes. I loved that line where Caesar says Koba only learnt hate from humans and nothing else. This movie really goes through the whole beautiful spectrum of life. Every second manages to be entertaining and infused with emotions and also the action is just fantastic. I saw a lot of parallels with Avatar and this is honestly the better movie to see for those human vs nature themes. Another parallel was the ending of the film panning towards the protagonist’s eyes and again the VFX is so unbelievably good, it makes you feel something almost unexplainable, like within 5 seconds you contemplate the human/animal dichotomy and your own nature. Any movie that makes me go WHOAAAAA at multiple different times instantly enters my GOAT lists, I can’t recommend it enough and I’m really hoping the next 2 sequels I’m about to watch maintain the same level of masterful direction.