Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) Trailer

I think Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes are two under-rated movies.

I enjoyed the movie and I didn't notice that time flew.  The movie is 2 hours 10 minute long.

The premise is set 10 years after the first sequel.  By that time, ape flu has caused millions of death.  The ape tribe led by Ceasar lives in the woods and haven't seen any humans for the last two years.  They think humans are extinct until one day a team of humans comes across with the apes.  Tension is built between the apes and the humans as they both fight for survival.


The characters except Ceasar are one-dimentional.  The exploration team of humans consists of the protagonist, a female medic, a son, a screw-things-up character and another forgettable character.  Such a cliche team.  Even Koba is a cliche character.  I'm only interested in seeing how Ceasar makes his moral decisions.


One thing remarkable is that not only the apes use sign language, they speak in English!  As their secondary language, the apes use simple vocabulary and is easy to understand what they say.


I think the best part of this movie is the cinematography.  I remember the scene which an ape (probably Koba) takes over a tank and shoot the humans.  The camera follows the ape's POV and the shot is almost like a video game!  The effect is stunning.


Overall, I enjoy this movie very much.  I expect there will be another sequel.

The Adventures of Tintin(2011)

The Adventures of Tintin (2011) Trailer

A superb animation by Steven Spielberg. The adventures come one after another and leaves the audience breathless. I like the action-packed storyline. It is different from a Bond movie as there is less sex and violence. Yet there are a lot of thrilling shots and car chases (chasing a bird, LOL).

A lot of the camera shots are thinking-out-of-the-box and complicated as they are made in post production. This enabled the director to creatively manipulate the shots to tell the story.

Character-wise, Tin Tin is composed and have a high integrity. He found the clues for the coordinate but he didn't keep it for himself. Even though he had a plane crash and was fired from a plane, he didn't get hurt at all.

The Captain still has another treasure buried in the sea to find. I'm so looking forward to the sequel, if any.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) Trailer

This movie is shorter compared with the recent movies on screen. It’s only 105 minutes. However, it fits the perfect screen time of movies. The movie is exciting both in visual and sound. I walk out of the cinema feeling satisfied with the story. And I immediately research the types of ape. I find that apes are different from monkeys for which they have no tails.

The 3 Act Structure
This movie fits perfectly the 3 act structure. Let’s look at it in details.
The first act is the exposition of the premise. The main character, Will, is introduced in a lab. We quickly understand that he’s a scientist. The exposition is integrated into the story when Will is pitching to the investors about what their research company Genesis is doing. It is well executed as there is a montage of a conflict between an ape and a lab technician. This adds excitement to the story. The first Act ends when the investors reject to invest and that the lab is a mess after the conflict.

The second act starts when Will takes the baby ape home to look after. He treats it as an experimental subject for the cure of his father’s illness. There are many winkles and reversals in the middle. There is a physical conflict between Caesar, the ape which Will takes home, and his neighbour; conflict between Will and his supervisor; emotional conflict of Caesar as he wants to win the attention of Will over his girlfriend; physical conflict of the sanctuary keeper and Caesar; physical conflict of Caesar and the other apes; conflict of Will and the sanctuary supervisor; conflict between the apes and the Police, etc.

The third act is very short. It starts when James takes a Police car and follows Caesar to the red woods. James wants to bring Caesar home but Caesar refuses. He says, “Caesar is home”. The movie ends with a twist that the pilot who lives next door to James caught the virus. This buries a time lock for a sequel.

There are not much catchy phrases. However, all dialogue serves its purpose as it moves the story forward. Characters don’t sit and talk. There is no scene in a restaurant. Instead, they act and talk in the elevator and corridor. There is no repeat of information, which is seen by the audience, by one character to another. So the movie is precise. None of the scenes is boring. Everything is integrated into the story.

To conclude, this is a highly recommended movie with great plot, cinematography and CG animation.