20 Highest Grossing Movies of 2014 - Ranked From Worst To Best

4. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes came burdened with huge expectations; its 2011 predecessor is one of the all-time great reboots, not to mention one of the most intelligent blockbusters in recent years. Matt Reeves replaced Rupert Wyatt at the helm of the franchise and put his own stamp on the material, with the end result being a movie that follows the sequel route of upping both the budget and the stakes, yet still remains markedly different to any of the year's other big-budget studio releases. The largely silent opening scenes are more reminiscent of an arthouse movie/nature documentary than a $170m blockbuster, and WETA's jaw-dropping CGI works perfectly in tandem with the performance capture work, resulting in fully-formed characters as opposed to just fancy visual effects. While Andy Serkis is once again fantastic as Caesar, Toby Kebbell gives the mo-cap legend a run for his money as Koba, arguably the year's best villain. Although the human characters feel underdeveloped, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is another complex and assured entry in the resurgent franchise that still features its fair share of crowd-pleasing moments; watching apes on horseback firing machine guns while taking on a tank is just as awesome as it sounds.