Greetings, and welcome to Earthling Cinema. I am your host, Garyx Wormuloid. This week’s
artifact is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to the prequel reboot of the remake
of a franchise based on a book by a French secret agent. This one’s for you, Pierre.
Our story takes place on a more palatable, human-free version of Earth. Now the planet is run by
super-smart apes, and the smartest ape of them all just happens to be the one from the
last movie, Caesar. But surprise! There actually are some humans left, hiding in the last place
you’d ever look: right next door. The humans do what humans do best, stand their ground,
and Caesar is not a big fan of the second amendment.
But the humans are desperate to go back to Apeland so they can get power from the dam
-- or darn if you don’t like swearing. You fucking saint, you. The resident age-appropriate
white male, Malcolm, strikes up a deal with Caesar. Caesar will allow Malcolm and his
crew to work there as long as they hand over their guns and don’t try to unionize.Working
together, the humans and apes fix the darn, allowing the humans to finally charge their
Kindle Fires. But an ape lieutenant named Koba hates when storylines progress harmoniously
without obstacle, so he shoots Caesar and blames it on the humans. He leads all the
apes to that weird tower the humans live in for some reason, and before you know it, they’re
waged in all-out war horse.
Malcolm’s wife Felicity finds Caesar alive and they take him to a charming fixer-upper
in a hip neighborhood. Caesar is worried it’s out of his price range, so they decide to
show him some apartments in the human tower instead.Unfortunately, Commissioner Gordon
sets off a big bomb to try to blow up the tower. But the bombs don’t really do much,
other than make everything shake a little. Caesar and Koba have a fight over whose name
should be on the lease, and Caesar lets Koba die because, come on dude, all of this would
have been fine if you had just cooled your jets. Malcolm warns Caesar that the military
is on its way. They become best friends for five seconds, then Malcolm runs away like
a little scaredy-catherine. And wouldn’t you know it, here comes a beautiful sunrise.
Dawn! Just like the title of the movie! Oh baby, the twists just keep on coming.
One of the central tenets of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is that its characters have names.
And one of those names is Caesar. This is a clever nod to the fact that Caesar is the
protagonist of the film, much like the manufacturer of quality Caesar dressing, Paul Newman, often
played protagonists in his films. If you really wanted to reach, you might also say the name
is a reference to William Shakeweight’s Julius Caesar, another character who is metaphorically
stabbed in the back and literally falls out of a tree.The film also explores more nuanced
issues, namely technology’s destructive effect on humanity, so get off your computer
and go play outside for Peter’s sake!
Or not, who cares. The first act of “Dawn of” is characterized by an irony: The audience
recognizes more humanity in the apes than they do in the humans. For the first several
minutes of the film, we see no people - only apes, who live in e-harmony with each other
and their natural surroundings, kumbayam’lord. They display idealistic qualities traditionally
associated with humanity, such as love and compassion and full frontal nudity, causing
the audience to become emotionally invested in them.
When the humans, with their machines and restrictive clothing, encounter the apes for the first
time, the perverted nature of modern man is shown in stork contrast. The humans have become
so dependent on technology that their very humanity will disintegrate if they can’t
turn on their precious nightlights. The advancements that were supposed to improve the human way
of life have left it weak and vulnerable to the monsters under the bed.Moreover, it was mankind’s obsession
with scientific progress that led to the creation of the simian flu in the first place, and
knowing humans, they’ll be the first to take credit. The film suggests that even the
purest society can be corrupted by the power and convenience afforded by sweet tech.
The apes begin the film as model citizens, but quickly abandon the qualities that made
their community stable as soon as they gain access to advanced weaponry. It’s just like
my children as soon as they gain access to space sugar. Can’t be trusted with guns.
A wide shot of the ape colony reveals the message written on a wall: “Ape not kill
ape. Apes together strong. Knowledge is....” And the final word is obscured by two apes
lumbering around in the foreground like idiots. Knowledge is power? Knowledge is college?
Knowledge is boring and only for nerds? Maybe the film is suggesting that knowledge can
corrupt just as easily as it can enlighten. And that the apes are headed down the same
road already paved by humans. After all, roads are a two way street.
For Earthling Cinema, I’m Garyx Wormuloid. Ooh ooh. Ah ah.