Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

[Elster88]

This was really good.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Guest

[Elster88]

Vic, please go see this and write a review.

This is the first movie that I wanted to get Ebert's take on since he died. 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, if that means anything.

Here's a good review, but it's spoilerific. Go in fresh and read this after. http://grantland.com/features/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-review/. If you read this or another review before you see the movie, you'll think the movie sounds ridiculous and dopey. Plus even knowing the setup for the plot is a bit of a spoiler. Going in knowing nothing is ideal.

[Frayed Knot]

Even if the original film is one that I like (sometimes Especially if it's one that I like) I tend to either shy away from, or quickly grow weary of, sequels, updates, and other next generation type 'franchise' remakes to the point where I'd normally just dismiss this as one in which I have no interest.
That said, the commercials and trailers for this flick look pretty darn cool.

[Edgy MD]

Screenplay by Mark Bomback. How can I resist?

[Vic Sage]

i liked it alot; my son loved it. As he said, "apes on horses with machine guns... cool!"

Sorry, Elster, but I don't have the time (or energy) to do a lengthy analysis of the film. I will opine that DAWN is a follow-up that is superior to its predecessor in many ways (e.g., this one has very little James Franco), and Andy Sirkis deserves an Oscar for a performance that may not even be eligible. That being said, i wished they had taken the time to develop the human characters and relationships as much as those of the apes. But it is a story where Caesar the ape is the protagonist, and the humans are just there for him to interact with, which allows him to grow. The humans are just plot points. And it didn't have to be that way.

Still, it's really good, surprisingly moving, with beautifully shot and staged action scenes... and if you're going to give me a shot of an evil ape on horseback riding through flames, shooting machine guns with both hands, i'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: Screenplay by Mark Bomback. How can I resist?

Had to check this out to find out if he went from pitching to writing (like Jim Brosnan) .
Its a different guy.
Oh well.
Haven't seen the movie yet.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

I liked it a lot too. I'm really enjoying the current reboot of the Apes franchise. The original five movies, as much as I loved them as a kid, has a lot more bad than good. Beneath and Battle are especially bad. And the second iteration of the franchise, the one-and-done Marky Mark movie, is better forgotten.

[metirish]

Went to see it last night, very enjoyable.