Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the must-awaited sequel in the prequel trilogy. Most of the budget must have been invested into the hair follicles on the apes, each strand giving the ape its own personality/traits. Joking aside the movie takes place 8 years after the first film, which Caesar had advanced to speech and a few of the apes could also talk. We are treated to at least an hour of sign language, which is fine for me who can communicate through sign language. Other viewers have found this more difficult having to read subtitles while watching the movie. This has to be something of a step backwards in the 8 years.

 

While the Apes are playing charades in the trees while communicating through smoke signals, the poor defenceless humans are without power and hope for survival is fading day-by-day. Not until a group of civilians plan to save the day. As you can imagine chaos spills over into the city, cue the music. #battlescene! Some of the shots are pleasing but the score for me was a missed opportunity as it felt to full and muddy. I don’t feel that the score was dynamic enough, with too much sub bass.

 

The irony for me was that the movie that if you boil it down to the core is about lack of technology. The CGI is flawless throughout and helps to create a genuine emotional attachment to the Apes. The moment the human are on screen that attachment becomes lost.

 

Overall: 7/10

The visuals was photo-realistic and the acting was solid, but let down by the lacklustre storyline. Which is a shame because this is an enjoyable planet of the ape’s movie.