Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Caesar

Pete & I took some time out last night and went to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. I am a Planet of the Apes fan ... I remember Charleton Heston stepping out of his crashed space ship, after being lost in space for a number of years, onto the beach and being met by Apes/Chimpanzees ... or have I got that confused with another movie. I loved that movie! I loved Rise of the Planet of the Apes with James Franco ... I thought it was excellent ... 9/10. A really good interpretation and I love how they focussed on the relationship between Caesar and Will, I found it very convincing.

Here are my thoughts on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ... Caesar is the star of the movie ... he does all his acting with his eyes. I love Caesar! The opening scene is amazing ... really captivating, I loved watching the monkeys swinging through the trees, great cinematography. Of course most of it is digital ... I am assuming. The storyline links quite well with the Planet of the Apes ... but if you are going in cold you might find it a little confusing, maybe not. I thought it was about 30 minutes too long ... I did not like the end ... monkey bonding family ending ... too much for me, a bit too sentimental and manipulative. The monkey fighting scenes were good ... now I know how they kill each other or predators. I hated the scenes where the computer generated figures did not fit with the eye contact of the actors ... bugged me! There was a good amount of tension in the film and enough character involvement to keep me interested. I give this movie a 7/10.

I realise I come out of a generation of character driven movies ... Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly ... little dialogue, a look instead of dialogue ... Yul Brynner another actor who said little, but had a menacing look ... a film was carried by the storyline and the characters. I do like a good action movie with well done computer graphics ... Batman I have enjoyed ... Star Trek ... The Matrix I loved!! But for real satisfaction I find myself going back to something that is slower and character driven. Which brings me to my next movie ... TV series ... Rectify.

"... the most reluctant innocent man ..."

We are really enjoying this series and are in to Season 2. Daniel Holden is compelling and I fluctuate between feeling empathy for him and afraid for him  to being afraid of him. His adjustment from Death Row to freedom is very moving ... what is freedom anyway? The filming is excellent ... the pace is slow and deliberate much like Daniel. The characters have got me engaged and interested in their story. There is a lot happening in each episode ... but not on screen ... the sense that something is going to happen ... where is this going to end. There is the odd scene that I found hard to take, but not enough to stop watching. I love the opening soundtrack. There are a couple of actors that irritate me ... but over all the acting is very good ... if you get a chance to see this, do. I give this series 10/10. Let me know what you think.