Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Review: 10 Awesome Moments

9. Caesar's Newborn Son

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is for the most part a considerably darker take on the idea that took root in the previous film, as the nature of both human and ape-kind is examined, and their efforts to co-exist become increasingly bleak as the movie progresses. There is one major glimmer of hope throughout the film, though, and that's the birth of Caesar's son, who just might be one of the cutest things we've ever seen in a movie about animals and humans murdering each other. Though Reeves smartly doesn't exploit the baby ape's cuteness, he does create a few moments of much-needed levity during the film, the best of which is his interacting with Keri Russell's Ellie and Kodi Smit-McPhee's Alexander. Though it leads to an uncomfortable stand-off between Caesar and Carver, it's a beautifully tender moment, and one that will surely melt the heart of even the most hardened man. Plus, we're super relieved that the little scamp survived the movie: if we could have, we would have placed a bet on him dying ahead of the third act, spurring Caesar into war against the humans. Thankfully, we were wrong...