Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sequel to the 2011 hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes and once again utilises the performance capture skills of Andy Serkis, playing the main protagonist Caesar who is leader of the primates. As the first film blew away any comparisons to the risible Tim Burton remake and served only to honour the originals it was unclear how this second instalment would build upon the fantastic first film. Straight away it succeeded with a stunning opening with richer visuals and more complex simian characterisation. Serkis has spoken about performance capture being called a new medium in screen acting but says 'Young actors are now used to motion capture. In five years time it will be so accepted we won't even be talking about it anymore'. Perhaps this will only happen once he wins an Academy Award for his role in this superb follow up.

The sequel is set ten years since the Simian Flu wiped out most of humanity and outside of San Francisco, Caesar and his primate companions have built a peaceful community in the woods. When they cross paths with a human named Carver (Kirk Acevedo), who impulsively draws his gun and shoots Ash at the first sign of aggression, a war begins to brew between man and ape. Carver is part of a human expedition led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), who are searching for a dam which would provide a power supply to rebuild their decimated numbers. Caesar soon drives the humans away and decides to dispatch a small crew to follow them rather than murder them all as aggressive Koba (Toby Kebbell) advises. Malcolm is sure he can build a truce with the apes and gets permission from Gary Oldman's Dreyfus to set out on his mission. However, just when it seems that the primates and humans have learned to coexist in peace, an act of betrayal threatens to spark a war that will determine the dominant species. From then on in it is ape versus man once again and some amazingly realistic battle scenes take place on screen which shows just how far CGI has come in the last decade.

One surprising element of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is how deep and philosophical the film is. It asks huge questions about mans relationship to nature and raises some compelling truths about our own existence. Particularly good is Maurice the Orangutan who forms a bond with a young human called Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee) over language and particularly books. It raises the clear possibility that only those who hold grudges against mans closest relatives are the ones unprepared to make peace with them. The younger generation may be the only ones to save their species by working together with the primates. Apart from the Koba and his gang of thugs, the apes certainly seem the more rational of the two warring factions and audience sympathy eventually sways to their side. The humans seem a desparate, humourless bunch but then again who wouldn't be in the stunningly rendered post-apocaplyptic world they find themselves in.

The film closes with many questions unanswered and a threequel seems inevitable but this is an action film with a heart and mind and it is this that separates it from the vast swathes of comic book fluff on offer at the moment. It is perfect multiplex fare too with it wonderful effects and up tempo pacing but it pauses for thought at all the right moments. The human actors are good but it can feel as if they are filling time until the apes return as they are the true stars of this film especially Serkis, who has managed to bring subtle inflections to a character that could easily have become one dimensional. As always the DVD features tons of extra stuff and will be a stocking filler that can be enjoyed by both old and young humans alike.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is out on Blu-ray, DVD and to download on 24th November.