3. Best Visual Effects - Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
When Rise of the Planet of Apes lost out in the Best Visual Effects category to Martin Scorsese's Hugo in 2012, there were loud rumblings of a cinematic injustice having been committed. If the film's arguably more successful sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, also fails to win the Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, there may be rioting in the streets. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes place at a time when apes and humans are on a much more level playing field. With disease drastically minimizing the human's numbers, and the technological infrastructure that was the source of humans' power in a state of utter shambles, the threat of apes wiping out the existing human populace is a real possibility. What this means cinematically, is that unlike the first film where we had to be introduced to the apes and their capabilities, in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes they are fully formed beings and characters. This allows for a much more dramatic arc that really sets the visual effects team loose on showing what they can do. It will be interesting to see if the film can pull off the win in the category. At this point, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the unquestioned frontrunner for the Visual Effects Oscar, but there is still much time for something to come along. One thing is for sure though, at the very least, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will be a nominee in the Visual Effects category.
A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.
