Just as Rise Of... was an unexpectedly high-quality re-boot, Dawn Of... raises the bar and delivers an absolutely terrific film. As a big Studio Summer tent-pole, this is an extraordinarily brave, thoughtful and emotionally-engaging movie. One of the master-strokes is positioning the viewer to the apes' point of view right from the start, which provides some thought-provoking responses to situations and divides audience loyalties between the human survivors and the apes. The physical creations of the apes' woodland home and the nature-ravaged city are wonderful, and Weta's CGI/mo-cap creature creations are (almost without exception) phenomenal and can be seen as another leap forward in the craft. Serkis (as Caesar) and Kebbell (as war-mongering ape Koba) are able to give real and hugely effective performances, and the humans (Jason Clartke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee) do fine work in a largely sombre, meditative and occasionally surprisingly brutal story. Matt Reeves repeats the combination of control and creativity he showed as director of Let Me In to great effect, and Michael Giacchino pulls off yet another wonderful score. Dawn Of... is easily one of the strongest films of 2014 and proves to be an immensely satisfying film to watch.
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