Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (4½ Stars)

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This is the second film in the new Planet of the Apes trilogy. It takes place ten years after the end of the first film. As was hinted at the end of the first film, a global virus was caused by the drug ALZ-113, which was created by Gen-Sys. We find out how deadly it was. No cure was found for the virus, and only one person in 500 survived. Worse still, mass panic arose among the survivors, so they ended up killing one another.

Though deadly for humans, the virus has had positive effects on apes, greatly increasing their intelligence, especially in the offspring of those infected.

The apes who live in the woods on the other side of the San Francisco bridge are of the opinion that the human race has died out, because they haven't seen any humans for two years. To their great surprise a truck visits with four inhabitants to inspect the dam. The small surviving community in San Francisco wants to restore electric power by repairing the hydroelectric generators in the dam. After some hesitation, Caesar allows a group of technicians to carry out repairs, as long as they return to their own side of the bridge afterwards.

That sounds like a good deal, but there are problems on both sides. Koba, a bonobo ape that we met in the first film, wants to get revenge on humanity for the wrongs they did him when he was in captivity. Some of the humans hate the apes simply because they look different. Does that sound familiar? After a human is trigger-happy and is punished, Caesar is wise enough to realise that he's not typical for all humans and allows the work to continue under close supervision. Koba is more extreme. He steals a gun and shoots Caesar, then tells the other apes that it was a human.

An all-out war begins between the apes and the humans. Unknown to Koba, Caesar survived and is being nursed back to life by good humans.

Unexpectedly, the film develops into a family drama. It's the family shown above: Caesar, his wife and his two sons. His older son, Blue Eyes, first takes Koba's side in believing that his father is too weak to rule.

The film is so powerful in its equal presentation of humanity and apes as two flawed species. We don't know whose side to take. Maybe we don't need to take sides. It's just evolution. Humanity had a chance to rule the world and failed. Now it's time for the apes to show if they can do better.

Success Ratio:  + 1.0

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