Dawn of the planet of the apes...or yawn?

[JD_KaPow]

I was shocked at how much I enjoyed "Rise". And yet I don't have very high expectations for "Dawn". I'll probably see it, though. Unlike any "Transformers" movie, which you couldn't pay me enough to see.

 

[visionary]

Why????
If this flic reminds you of a terrible 40 year old sequel, why would you make a conscious decision to reward the film makers for knowingly producing dreck?

To my mind, it would be akin to paying $10 to put my finger in an electrical outlet.

MW has gotten used to disappointing movies after watching the cowboys for the last 17 years

 

[kristie]

never was a fan of planet of the apes so i'm not going to see this one. i find the story completely ridiculous. JMO.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

*SPOILER ALERT*

The 1968 Charlton Heston version put the blame for the demise of humanity on a nuclear holocaust. The movie franchise reboot puts the blame on a mutated virus. It changed from an experimental vaccine being tested on apes to help cure Alzheimer's Disease. The vaccine was promising in the beginning, with James Franco illegally testing it on his father's dementia (his father was played by John Litigow (sp?)). The cure hit a dead end, though.

The vaccine artificially increased the apes' intelligence. That, in itself, would not give the apes the edge going into the upcoming sequel. Franco's assistant inhaled the gaseous form of the vaccine during a lab accident. He was Patient Zero. Before he died, he inflected Franco's neighbor, who was an airline pilot. The mutated virus is an airborne contagion. When the pilot flew to London (I think), he infected airport and jet passengers and the worldwide pandemic was underway.

It's a solid premise. Viruses have killed untold millions, sometimes in short order, through millennia. Nature has always had a way of keeping humanity in check. Our intelligence has been the main thing keeping us from going extinct.

I enjoyed the first reboot. Hope the sequel can do as well or better.

Problem is, that lab would've immediately gone on lock down and everyone would've been quarantined.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

That's like saying the plot of Transformers is dumb b/c "its hilarious that robots from another planet would come here and fight each other." Of course its ridiculous.

well....transformers is based off a cartoon.....and the last two were horribly bad. first one was only ok imo.

For this to be possible, this virus would have to eliminate like 90% of the world's population, because people are very efficient at killing things......just saying. Especially if what they're killing

A.) Isn't Human
and
B.) Is trying to become the dominant species

There would be so many "war atrocities" committed since our foe isn't human, that we would wipe them out, even if it meant an even smaller percentage of survivors on our part.

 

[DallasEast]

Problem is, that lab would've immediately gone on lock down and everyone would've been quarantined.

Perhaps in the real world. And if the characters involved understood the volatile nature the vaccine would have on the human central nervous system in gaseous form. And if the lab's director was less motivated to produce profits for shareholders and did not command his staff to ignore safety precautions as often as he did.

Then again, no lab accident meant no world catastrophe for the human race for the film's plot. No catastrophe meant no...Rise of The Planet of the Apes. lol. The filmmakers could have copied the catastrophe of the first movie franchise but that would not support the sudden evolutionary leap in logical thinking for the apes. Maybe they could have used SPACE ALIENS, who judged humans unfit, killed them off with weird environmentally safe beams of energy, and zapped the apes' brains with super IQ energies. Heck, anything's possible in Hollywood.

 

[Rack]

Just like the thread about Godzilla, some of you people way overanalyze a freakin fictional movie.

It's FICTION, don't like it, don't watch it. I for one can enjoy movies like these cuz I don't need a movie to be "realistic" to enjoy it.

Lighten up, Frances.

 

[Aikmaniac]

The original is one of the greatest movies of all time... Period.

Call me crazy, but I can't get past Heston's over-acting.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Call me crazy, but I can't get past Heston's over-acting.

And I get that. He was like that in most of his films, but I don't think it was done on purpose it was just him being him.



To me that's what made him entertaining as an actor.

 

[Aikmaniac]

True. He was entertaining.

I wonder if that style would work in today's film making. Not saying that this era is better or worse than Heston's...just a thought.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

True. He was entertaining.

I wonder if that style would work in today's film making. Not saying that this era is better or worse than Heston's...just a thought.

You raise an interesting point.

I'm not sure it would work.

But in that era (and prior) the actor who lived on the edge of over-acting like Heston, like John Wayne, like Gable, Bogart, Cagney... And the fans (or the majority of the fans) loved it.

Today the acting or even over acting is replaced by car chases, profanity, sex and a lot of cgi. Now is all that bad? No, but it certainly is different.

 

[CyberB0b]

Call me crazy, but I can't get past Heston's over-acting.

That's what makes it great, IMO. Better over actor than William Shatner.

 

[speedkilz88]

Give me Heston over the likes of Affleck and Clooney anyday.

 

[Lodeus]

All good thus far

http://www.metacritic.com/movie/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes

 

[DallasEast]

All good thus far

http://www.metacritic.com/movie/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes

I see Todd McCarthy has already done a review, giving it a 100. He's one of about three movie critics I bother reading from time to time. He did not care for the original reboot as much as this one, but he gave the first movie a grade in the 80's I think. I had decided to wait awhile before seeing it (my next for sure movie is my avatar, lol), but I may get tickets during premiere week now.

 

[TheCount]

The original is one of the greatest movies of all time... Period.

Of all time, period?? Come on, man.

In relation to the OP, I think the movie is gonna be good. The first one, other than James Franco, was tremendous. But origin stories are always easier, let's see what happens now.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Give me Heston over the likes of Affleck and Clooney anyday.

Classic!!

Heston was in rare form. Talking about humanity. Hating on this... Hating in that...

Then it happened....

He sees apes riding horseback and hears a talking ape.

Nice kick in the head.

Awesome setup!

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Of all time, period?? Come on, man.

Obviously different tastes for different folks but...

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies—Nominated[28]

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills—#59

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
  • Colonel George Taylor—Nominated Hero[29]

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • "Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape."—#66

• AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores—#18

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)—Nominated[30]

• AFI's 10 Top 10—Nominated Science Fiction Film[31]

 

[Nova]

Call me crazy, but I can't get past Heston's over-acting.

Ha. I've always assumed that his over-acting was just kind of what was expected. Like, that, was good acting back then.

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

I really liked the "Rise"... Cesar's rise to power, and his division between the humans and his fellow apes was cool, kept me interested until the action in the last act.

I expect the second to be solid, If not spectacular...

Although the fact that we are talking about a series that has been remade over and over, and Transformers 4 by famous porn action director Bay, means.........Hollywood is running out of ideas.