Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (July 2014)

[red calzolaio]

The whole last section was "Wow. That CGI monkey actually looks remarkable. The suspension of movement-type menace here is really captiva-oh, it looks stupid when he moves. Kay."

It's probably going to look better in the final film. There's been a growing trend of using badly rendered CGI in the early trailers or teasers, just to get some footage out there. My understanding is that these types of films aren't 100% completed until a few months before release. That's why lately the CGI in so many blockbuster trailers tends to look like an old Playstation 2 game.

i found this to be true with the first trailer for Pacific Rim. thought it looked awful.

[spike]

The whole last section was "Wow. That CGI monkey actually looks remarkable. The suspension of movement-type menace here is really captiva-oh, it looks stupid when he moves. Kay."

It's probably going to look better in the final film. There's been a growing trend of using badly rendered CGI in the early trailers or teasers, just to get some footage out there. My understanding is that these types of films aren't 100% completed until a few months before release. That's why lately the CGI in so many blockbuster trailers tends to look like an old Playstation 2 game.

i found this to be true with the first trailer for Pacific Rim. thought it looked awful.

some terrible, raw looking CGI in the hobbit: smaug trailer as well.

[BurtReynolds]

I'm sure a small army of Singaporean wage slaves are working around the clock on it as we speak.

[The Argonaut]

Are the apes the bad guys in this one yet? I didn't get why Rise was trying to convince us to root for the apes during the man-monkey battle climax. I've seen the original movies, I know what happens to the humans. It is not pleasant. (note: I am a human.)

[E.H. Ruddock]

3 short films that explain what happened in the ten years between Rise and Dawn:

[B]

Are the apes the bad guys in this one yet? I didn't get why Rise was trying to convince us to root for the apes during the man-monkey battle climax. I've seen the original movies, I know what happens to the humans. It is not pleasant. (note: I am a human.)

Don't cheer for the apes, weep for the folly of man.

[McParadigm]

Are the apes the bad guys in this one yet? I didn't get why Rise was trying to convince us to root for the apes during the man-monkey battle climax. I've seen the original movies, I know what happens to the humans. It is not pleasant. (note: I am a human.)

I've been rooting against the humans in every scifi movie. Have I erred?

[daft twat]

Just saw this. Really well done. I'm surprised no one here is talking about this while we have an 8 page thread for Guardians of the Galaxy, which had a horrible trailer in front of this movie.

[Jorge]

Well, LV talked about it:

Saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes today. It was trash. Matt Reeves is one of the worst directors currently working.

It's getting some really good reviews and most people I've talked to have enjoyed it, but I honestly can't bring myself to watch it. Something about it seems completely off-putting to me.

[Kaius]

I plan on watching it, but ican wait until it's on Netflix or whatever.

I liked Rise... quite a bit, other than Franco.

[E.H. Ruddock]

I really enjoyed it

[BurtReynolds]

Well, LV talked about it:

Saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes today. It was trash. Matt Reeves is one of the worst directors currently working.

It's getting some really good reviews and most people I've talked to have enjoyed it, but I honestly can't bring myself to watch it. Something about it seems completely off-putting to me.

Same. I think its because I feel like I already know the story, and its a tired one. Monkeys and people try to live together, miscommunications and prejudices spiral into open race war. Monkeys mostly win. A few humans (the good ones) get away. Maybe thats not what it is at all, but the trailer makes it seem that way.

But everyone says its good. I liked the first one.

[ABNorman]

I honestly can't bring myself to watch it. Something about it seems completely off-putting to me.

I've had this exact feeling.

Didn't see the previous one either - was that any good?

[PryTo]

I'm a sucker for these apes films and want to see this, but I'll wait until I can watch at home. For those who enjoyed the previous one (or if you didn't), you should check out Project Nim. It's a terrific and very well-done documentary. Truth is stranger than CGI. From what I can tell, whoever wrote that last apes movie basically took huge chunks of Nim (it was a book before being turned into a doc) and spun it into a fictional film. I'm sure you can find it through the usual online channels. Face ripper monkey FTW!

[daft twat]

Well, LV talked about it:

Saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes today. It was trash. Matt Reeves is one of the worst directors currently working.

It's getting some really good reviews and most people I've talked to have enjoyed it, but I honestly can't bring myself to watch it. Something about it seems completely off-putting to me.

Same. I think its because I feel like I already know the story, and its a tired one. Monkeys and people try to live together, miscommunications and prejudices spiral into open race war. Monkeys mostly win. A few humans (the good ones) get away. Maybe thats not what it is at all, but the trailer makes it seem that way.

But everyone says its good. I liked the first one.

This is pretty close. The thing that you said puts you off - you know the story and it's a tired one - has got to be 100% right for anyone who watches the news or paid attention in history class. It's a story as old as human beings. The last words in the film exchanged between an ape and a man really hammer home the futility of the pursuit of peace.

Beyond the bog standard plot, I think it's another fantastic accomplishment in filmmaking. I was born in 1977 and had a tv that only got the 3 major networks until I was in junior high, so watching the Planet of the Apes movies or tv show on some Saturday afternoons was a serious treat. I could suspend disbelief, but I knew I was watching a man in costume. I now watch movies like this and Gravity (not a great plot either) in serious disbelief. We have essentially reached a point where anything that can be dreamed up can be made into a realistic-looking movie. After what Tim Burton did, I never thought I'd see this franchise attempted in my life again. I'm really glad some studio exec had the balls to give it one more go.

[LoathedVermin72]

Some more detailed thoughts on this (I was dicussing it on another site):

There was no awe or personality to the action and all the "ape emotion" was boring, hackneyed conventional drama that was exaggerated and drawn-out to near-laughable degrees. That sick wife subplot was ridiculous.

Every shot was constructed with the quotidian visual mechanics of television. Slow, meaningless camera movement, slow pans from overheard to (pointlessly) establish location, every conversation filmed in a succession of medium-close shots. There's never a moving, thrilling, cinematic image like there is in, say, Godzilla.

I also can't believe no one seems to notice/care about the appallingly retrograde sexism all over this crap:

-When the adult woman says she's coming, the adult male doesn't allow it. But when the teenage male insists (remember, the woman is an ADULT and the male is a TEENAGER), the adult male concedes.

-"Send the females and young to the woods." Yeah, nevermind that the weakest female ape should be able to easily murder the strongest male human. Not to mention that patriarchy is far from being universal across the "Great Ape" societies - this is just ignorant American male mentality being shoehorned onto the ape society.

It could also be argued that this movie is pretty racist - one token black character, the hero ape is light-skinned, the villain ape is dark-skinned.

This bullshit is unconsciously, thoughtlessly perpetuated by the filmmakers and seems to be being just as unconsciously and thoughtlessly accepted by audiences and critics.

[LoathedVermin72]

Well, LV talked about it:

Saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes today. It was trash. Matt Reeves is one of the worst directors currently working.

It's getting some really good reviews and most people I've talked to have enjoyed it, but I honestly can't bring myself to watch it. Something about it seems completely off-putting to me.

Same. I think its because I feel like I already know the story, and its a tired one. Monkeys and people try to live together, miscommunications and prejudices spiral into open race war. Monkeys mostly win. A few humans (the good ones) get away. Maybe thats not what it is at all, but the trailer makes it seem that way.

But everyone says its good. I liked the first one.

You just described the plot of this movie to perfection. No surprises in store.

And yeah, Risewas pretty good. Just makes this one more of a shame.

[B]

The last review I read said that the plot/writing were subpar, but the visuals and acting were outstanding.

[LoathedVermin72]

The last review I read said that the plot/writing were subpar, but the visuals and acting were outstanding.

The visuals are far from outstanding and the most interesting actors all have CGI monkey faces.

[McParadigm]

Did they make it look good when bane breaks the bat at least