OK, before you start going, well, ape at this film's inclusion, here's a tl;dr - it's good, but overall an average film when compared to the rest of what 2014 offered in terms of blockbusters. That Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, the second movie in the second reboot of an almost fifty year old franchise isn't a total train-wreck is impressive, as is the CGI and motion capture performances that bring the simians to life. In fact, the entire set-up for the first hour is pretty enticing, detailing the rise of the apes in a manner previous attempts could only realise partially. Unfortunately, all the good work is for nothing when the film in its final act decides it cares less about the story at hand and more about setting up another movie. The apes start to lord it over the humans, but just as proper conflict begins to kick off, the film goes off on a tangent, promoting a B-story to final battle status and leaving you with a Planet that is still yet to have its dawn. They're going to run out of synonyms for Rise soon. Dawn Of The... is monkey leaps ahead of Burton's reboot, but in the pantheon of all eight Apes movie it sits at the middle of the pack alongside Escape From The... - an interesting idea only partially executed.
