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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:18 pm    Post subject: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) Reply with quote



After the highly enjoyable first film in this series, the sequel did a terrific job of continuing the story in an entertaining and intelligent manner.

The acclaimed special effects by Weta Digital present the story in an manner that's both believable and beautiful. Watching the apes leap and swing is like watching Spider-Man cruise down the streets of New York — a dance as intricate as anything ever done by Gene Kelly.

The budget was a well-spent $170 million, and the box office take was a well-earned $708 million. Thank goodness, too, because that means these talented people will get to keep on making these wonderful movies.

The critics got it right this time when they said kind things about the movie, resulting in a positive score of 90% based on 257 reviews, according to Rotten Tomatoes.

As for the plot, linking the intelligence of apes to a cure for alzheimer's that mutated and became a world pandemic which wrecked human civilization was brilliant. One cause for two effects is intelligent story telling.

One of the things about the original I never cared for was the complete absence of any explanations for what made the apes smart and the humans dumb.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Dec 08, 2023 4:23 pm; edited 4 times in total
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ralfy
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for sharing this.

For the original, there were five movies. I think the fourth explained why apes became smarter.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Both of the ape movies were very enjoyable. I'm looking forward to the next one.
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_________ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - trailer


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Dec 08, 2023 4:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bud Brewster
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Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2018 7:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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All the new Apes movies are terrific. I didn’t like any of the sequels of the original when they first came out, and now they all seem really lame.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Dec 08, 2023 4:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2019 1:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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This is the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), which began the new Apes franchise (so this is the 2nd film in the new film series).

Ten years have passed since the previous film, during which a pandemic has swept the planet and 90% of the human population has died. Like the previous film, this still takes place in the Bay Area in what used to be San Francisco, but James Franco's character is not around — probably a victim of the sickness.

Nature has done a good job so far in reclaiming the ground; everything is overgrown with new green growth. Chimp leader Caesar (motion capture by Andy Serkis again) is in charge of a large conclave of apes in the North Bay, where they hunt for food in the new wilderness like pre-industrial American Indians. Their only problems seem to be other predators such as bears.

But in the city there's a large conclave of surviving humans, led by Gary Oldman and Jason Clarke, who take a small party to seek out the power source of the still-working hydroelectric dam. They run into the talking apes and, needless to say, the sudden confrontation is a revelation to all involved.

This was a colorful post-apocalyptic adventure, reminding me a bit of I am Legend (2007), probably because the FX are similar. Some of the plot copies the old Battle For the Planet of the Apes (73) film, in regard to that now-famous ape law, "Ape Shall Not Kill Ape," and that there's that one evil or deranged ape (named Koba in this case) who will not follow this law in secret (then, not so secret), demolishing all hope for a peaceful co-existence between apes and mankind.

The computer FX are still problematic for me — half the time they're impressive, the other half remind me that I'm looking at real humans and animated apes, like in a high-end video game.

Most of the humans, however, I found to be uninteresting and unlikable. They're all either fearful, stupid or (in one case) both — that one idiot prone to panic who will ruin things for all involved. Keri Russell plays the main female human role and she's okay. There's also a rather lame deus ex machina ending in which some military base is contacted, putting an end to the conflict for now.

BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10



BoG
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2019 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bogmeister wrote:
The computer FX are still problematic for me — half the time they're impressive, the other half remind me that I'm looking at real humans and animated apes, like in a high-end video game.

Yes indeed, another example of someone who seems to see flaws in CGI that I'm not aware of. To me, the effects in all the recent Apes movies are jaw-dropping!

I think the difference between me and the fault-finders is the matter of "realism". Those who criticize CGI seem to want it to be absolutely indistinguishable from reality.

I, on the other hand, don't just look at CGI as FX needed for the story but as artwork, and if it appears a bit stylized when surrounded by reality, I actually like it. I don't fault it for "looking like CGI" if it looks like good CGI artwork! Very Happy

In other words, to me the CGI FX in a movie can range from this —



— to this.



The "hand of the artist" can be obvious or subtle, but it's still artwork, and that's my passion. Cool

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2023 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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I watched this movie again today by "streaming" it (the newest thing in video viewing . . . I guess they'll starting "rivering" them next Rolling Eyes), and was I impressed anew by the flawless blend of story-telling, special effects, and acting — both by actors on the sets and CGI versions created with the help of "motion capture".

Jeez, when I was a kid, this kind of thing was accomplished by men in rubber suits — such as Godzilla (which looks ridiculous) — or stop motion, which is not supposed to look realistic, but certainly looks amazing. Cool

Well, I guess there's no accounting for taste, right?

For example, this is supposed to be the most famous painting in the world, an alleged "beautiful lady with a mystic smile."



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Well, even though I'm just a humble amateur, I think this oil painting of my ex-wife's "mystic smile" beats the one on Miss Lisa . . .


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Then again, I'm prejudiced. Mr. Green
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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