The dawn of the planet of the Apes is upon us once again, and this time, two species will face off in an epic battle for the future of both species. Ten years after Simian flu nearly wiped out most of the human world’s homo sapiens, genetically-engineered chimpanzee Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his ever-growing band of supporters have established a successful colony just outside San Francisco. Meanwhile, a tiny band of human survivors emerging from a mountain refuge find themselves caught in the cross-fire of Caesar’s growing rage against all things human. This action occurs as the pair of films opens with a bang, with the first act coming from the Oscar award-winning script by Alex Cross (ictions), which also features Academy Award winner Jennifer Garner.
In this movie we get to once again see the bonds that separate humans from their closest relatives, and how they can be broken when the enemy uses fear as a weapon to take over. In essence, the dawn of the planet of the Apes is about mankind uniting with its other species in order to fight a common foe… but if that common foe turns out to be the smarter, faster, and more cunning Chimpanzee, the outcome could be disastrous for all of humanity. The film follows the conflict from the perspective of the humans, who must learn to look past their differences and come together in order to defeat this formidable foe.
As a prequel to the Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the first act shows us the background and history of our protagonist, played by Charlton Heston. Heston’s character is an Earthling scientist (like Scott except for his green skin and less thick hair), and he’s brought his wife and two children aboard the ship that’s transporting them to the distant planet of Apes. Once there, however, the expedition is attacked by an invasion of Chimpanzees who attack the humans and take over the ship. Once the humans are taken captive, the evil chimps turn on the humans and the whole family.
The climax of the film takes place during a massive battle between the Chimpanzees and the humans. It seems that the only way to prevent the extermination of the human race is for the humans and the Chimpanzees to work together so as to survive. What makes Dawn of the Planet of the Apes thrilling is its excellent combination of excellent action sequences and expert visual effects. When combined with excellent special effects, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was able to create one of the most memorable films of its type ever made.
However, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was not given the success that it deserves by Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The second installment failed to give us anything memorable or spectacular, and did not live up to the expectations of both fans and critics. The story had been expanded, but the characters were still uninteresting and the storyline was predictable. It is nonetheless a worthy film, and those looking for a sci-fi actioner will certainly find something to enjoy here, but Rise of the Planet of the Apes makes very little impressionist sci-fi.
It is undeniable that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a box office hit. Its three-hour running time made it the biggest opening weekend for a movie in India and no other country. On the other hand, the Hindi language version Smit-MCPhee did better at the box office, earning Rs 24 million (US dollars) from ticket sales. This was only marginally lower than Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ haul.
Will Rise of the Planet of the Apes be good enough to recover the faith of its audience? Well, the name Smit-MCPhee might lend some clues. It is a remake and a sequel of an earlier, well-received movie called The Rise of Apes. Though the plot of the latter film was more exciting and innovative, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a far cry from the imagination-based drama of The Rise of Apes. If audiences are expecting a coming of the robots, they are in for a disappointment.
Apart from that, the voice of the narrator hails from another animated film called Zindhwise saga, which failed to attract any real animation fans. A slow paced, moody and somewhat anti-climactic tale of a family feud followed by the gradual downfall of one family member (Ellie) culminating in disaster is neither funny nor entertaining. Will Rise of the Planet of the Apes be a big flop or a huge success? It remains to be seen.
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