Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90% (7.9 average) Why It Deserves Best Picture: Easily the best blockbuster of the year so far, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a towering, masterfully-constructed sequel which delivers a film that is in every way bigger, better and more heartfelt than the still-great Rise. Andy Serkis once again gives a stunning performance as ape leader Caesar, but he's joined by the almost equally excellent Toby Kebbell as rival ape Koba, leading to a visceral and deeply emotional jostling for leadership. Smartly focusing more on the apes than the human characters (the quarter-hour opening sequence, consisting entirely of apes communicating via subtitled sign language, is mesmerising), Cloverfield director Matt Reeves near-perfectly balances action with pathos, making for a blockbuster that reminds us they don't have to be inane and put characters to the back seat. Why It Won't Get Nominated: Because despite a lot of AMPAS voters likely growing up with the original Apes series, they probably can't bring themselves to vote for a film revolving around a gang of apes fighting humans, especially when there's a scene involving one ape riding on horseback through a wall of fire while shooting his gun. Even though it has tremendous artistic merit and, like most films on this list will wipe the floor with a number of the eventual Best Picture nominees, it's too "silly" to get serious Oscar contention beyond its mind-bogglingly brilliant visual effects.