In this season of lists, I like to recall that RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES was one of my top ten movies of 2011. It’s nice to not have any regrets. What I loved most about that movie is that it’s the story of Caesar, the super-evolved chimpanzee who would ultimately become the leader of the ape uprising. It was SCARFACE starring a chimp. BATMAN BEGINS, if you must. But no matter what you do, hail Caesar. The human characters, no matter how pretty they might be, were really only peripheral.
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is set fifteen years after the events of 2011’s franchise re-boot. Caesar left behind the comfort of life with James Franco and Freida Pinto and took to the trees. It seems that the uneasy truce between ape and human is teetering on the brink. If you’re looking for someone to be skeptical about a movie that stars a chimpanzee army, you’ve come to the wrong man.
The new film was directed by Matt Reeves, who most recently directed the next-gen kaiju flick CLOVERFIELD and the chilly vampire tale LET ME IN, a rare remake I was actually quite friendly towards. The stars are Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke (of PUBLIC ENEMIES and LAWLESS), Keri Russell, LET ME IN alum Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Judy Greer. Andy Serkis returns as Caesar. Good cast.
Hey, I just noticed a weird connection:
Star of RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Star of DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
And also:
Koba has Drexl’s eyes!
Anyway, here’s the new trailer:
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES storms theaters on July 11th, 2014.
Here’s my take on the original PLANET OF THE APES, if you’re curious.
— JON ABRAMS.
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Tags: andy serkis, Apes, gary oldman, James Franco, Sci-Fi
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