Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Andy Serkis grows a fair bit of body hair and stands in front of a green screen in the middle of a post apocalyptic forest. He has many chimp friends and family who swing and run around after deer and wotnot in order to keep their families alive. During one of these outings some people turn up with guns and cause a bit of surprise to Andy coz he thinks they all carked it years ago due to some flu thing knocking around. One of these people shoots one of Andys chimps and they go completely nuts. This kicks off a war, then friendship, then war, then friendship type thing and lots of humans and chimps die somewhat unnecessarily.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes did a fantastic job of telling the pre-part of the Planet of the Apes story and setting up its own little trilogy that will lead up to the classic tale. This second instalment jumps us ten years on and into a post apocalyptic setting. The chimps are now fully set up in their own little society with Caesar (Andy) at the helm. Just like in the first one the motion capture is spectacular with Serkis showing there is pretty much noone better at it than him, at least whose name we know. The chimps and their relationships are developed well and begin to blur the lines between human and chimpanzee. Once the humans are introduced the lines become even more blurred with some of the humans showing more savagery and primitive behaviour than their counterparts. Gary Oldman is the leader of these humans and whilst he is a bit of a savage and a brute his motives are perfectly understandable given the circumstances. The same can be said for the antagonist on the ape side of the coin with right hand chimp???? Koba. Both of these characters are flawed but are developed enough that you completely understand and sympathise with them. The film flows beautifully with all performances concerned excelling in every area. I loved this film but must admit I have one problem with it, don't worry though it isn't a big one. All it is is the slight over-anthropomorphic treatment of the chimps. I know the point is that they are becoming more human but for me they went a tiny bit too far, only in some areas mind, on the whole it works very well. If the third of these prequels is even half as good as either this or Rise Of it will genuinely be one of the greatest trilogies ever made.

Verdict: 5/5