Great Apes

It’s the most human performance you’ll find in a big blockbuster spectacle this summer, and it isn’t even human. As Caesar, the intelligent and empathetic leader of a simian tribe surviving in a virus-devastated world sparsely populated by nomadic humans, English thespian and motion-capture acting specialist Andy Serkis astounds in the new Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Serkis has been a wonder to watch as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings series, but here, his is one of those performances that may really change things. The Academy could create a best animated or motion-capture performance category, but in the short term I don’t think Serkis would have much competition. Oscar can be mighty conservative, but I have little doubt that Serkis will be nominated for a Golden Globe and a slew of other honors for this film.

In 2011, what was essentially a storied though very B-movie-flavored franchise was rebooted with a surprisingly heady and emotional chapter fronted by James Franco as a scientist who experiments on his young chimp Ceasar with a breakthrough medication crafted to combat Alzheimer’s—a disease that has stricken his father. The results are miraculous and push Ceasar’s intellect into the human range. Of course, mistakes are made and clashes with scientists and the military ensue, and at the start of Dawn, it’s been a decade since, a virus has wiped out 90% of Earth’s human population and the ape’s mistrust of the them is at an all-time high.

When a band of San Francisco-area survivors treks to the nearby hills in search of a derelict dam that could be their new power source, they encounter Ceasar’s tribe, creating rifts within both the ape enclave and the rag-tag human outpost on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Ceasar wants to make peace with the humans, while his tortured lieutenant Koba, still harboring scars from his miscreant habitat caretaker, wants nothing but revenge. In a role that could have used one more writer’s pass to add more character, Gary Oldman plays the human leader bent on annihilating any ape threat, while Jason Clarke sees Ceasar’s humanity and tries to build an alliance. There are savages and saviors on both sides.

Throughout this well-paced film, the computer animation is remarkable. Never once did I catch myself thinking, “I’m watching two monkeys talk to each other.” The writing is such that these aren’t just animations, they are, chiefly, strong characters, and well rounded with heart and emotion and conviction. And from the first exhilarating hunting sequence, we care for Ceasar and his family as family unity and understanding are major themes of the picture.

Separating this from the likes of Transformers or any number of summer popcorn flicks, Ceasar’s journey is one of understanding, an internal odyssey amid the gunfire and grenades of war. Director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) and his writers have not only followed 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes with a worthy sequel, they’ve given us a thinking man’s summer movie, deepened our investment in these characters and brought audiences to a precipice of “What happens next?!?” I didn’t expect to feel this way going in, but I for one cannot wait.

Watch the trailer below: