Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'

Written by Scott Edwards

Having power is something that we all dream about. Whether it is just having people near to us listen and do as we say, or having multiple people under us that will do what they are told without question, we seek that control. Power is one of the hardest things to attain, but once you are able to harness it, you will never want to give it up.

Ten years after the Simian Flu caused the collapse of the human race, Caesar and his family have made a home in the woods outside of San Francisco. Since the ape uprising, Caesar has become the leader of his community and uses his power to make life easier for his followers. It has been a long time since he has seen a human around these parts and even though all of the apes are getting along in harmony, he still mourns the loss of a person he can communicate with.

On an excursion to find an abandoned dam, Malcolm and his group stumble upon the care free ape environment. Seeing that there is a leader that allows the humans to leave unharmed, Malcolm believes he will be able to communicate with the leader and come to terms on getting the dam up and running again to provide electricity to his cut off city. Reporting this to Dreyfus, the human leader in San Francisco, Malcolm is granted three days to get the dam operational again, but if the apes will not allow the humans to live their lives with power, they will take over the dam by force and kill each and every last one of them.

Caesar sees a fight in his future and will do everything in his power to avoid bloodshed once again. He opens the area up to the humans to do their work, but as his patience is tested, he starts to understand that not every human is out to challenge his freedom, they are trying to gain it for themselves. Caesar’s second in command, Koba is not so trusting of the human race and goes into the city to investigate the situation. Stumbling upon a massive stockpile of weapons the humans are testing in case they have to go to war with the apes, Koba has to try to convince his leader that there is a war on the horizon. Without being able to prove to Caesar that anything is truly wrong, Koba has to find a more drastic way to save his way of life and will stop at nothing to prove his leader's lack of worth.

A fantastic second installment to the rebooted series. Watching as Caesar tries to keep his ape brothers at bay with the appearance of humans is something else, and seeing him confront the humans on their own turf and telling them he does not want a war is truly spectacular. If it would have been apparent to the leaders of both groups that they only wanted the same thing, they could have lived in harmony. But when neither side is willing to trust, they are willing to put it all on the line and find the best way to survive without the other interfering. This is one of the finest movies I have watched in years and it should go down as an epic in my mind. If you are just a casual fan of the Planet of the Apes movies, you will love what is put in front of you on the big screen. If you are a huge fan of the franchise however, you will be yelling and screaming with joy! Happy Viewing.

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