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

7. Koba Tricks The Humans

Reeves may have let the cat out of the bag with this one prior to release as the entire scene was released online several weeks ago, but doing so also gave potential audiences an unnerving glimpse at the movie's savage brutality, and how skilled directors can convey abject terror without needing to secure a gory R-rating. The scene in question has Koba returning to the human settlement and confronting two guards who had told him to leave earlier. While at first they perceive him to be a threat, his charming circus-style tricks and tomfoolery makes them drop their guard, at which point Koba snatches one of their machine guns and mows the pair down. The ruthless intelligence with which Koba operates here cements him as a scary threat to both humans and apes, and makes it clear how many of the humans still massively underestimate the apes.