Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

When "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was released, it quickly became one of my favorites of the franchise. It was a brilliant reboot of one of my all-time favorite franchises (as I have pointed out here, here, and here, among other places), and deserved to go down in the pantheon of incredible film making. Now, it's sequel has been given to us, and it is equally as beautiful, climactic, and breath-taking. There are scenes in this movie that moved me to auditory responses that I don't get to make during many films.

Andy Serkis should seriously be given some kind of technical Oscar for being a better mo-cap actor than most actors are without it (because they have some crap rules about giving it to actors who don't appear on-screen). Honestly, I can't think of any performances that were sub-par in this flick, some characters could have flushed out a little better, but just none stand out the way Serkis did. Except, perhaps, Toby Kebbell as Caesar's second in command, Koba. That ape was just plain frightening. Despite a couple of lags in the story early on, it is a well written sci-fi movie, with plenty of heart and brain to spare. "Dawn" simply hurdles toward a third act that is thrilling in every way, and captures the spirit of the original series with an ending filled with doom and gloom.

Grade: A-

3D: Doesn't hurt, doesn't help

Easter Egg: Not really. Only some sounds. 

Starring: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman
Director: Matt Reeves
Writer(s): Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
RT: 130min
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and brief strong language