Aping humanity: DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES keeps rebooted franchise firmly on track

Initially, I was disappointed to hear that Matt Reeves was replacing Rupert Wyatt as director of the second in this rebooted and infinitely finer series than any of its predecessors. Although I loved Reeves' Cloverfield (the best modern monster movie of 'em all) but found his remake Let Me In simply unnecessary, Wyatt's record as director (The Escapist and the Rise of the Planet of the Apes) is pretty extraordinary. Still, Reeves (shown below) has come through with a fine and brawny sequel that puts the apes front and center and teaches us that, when it comes to apes -- just like with Christians, Muslims, Jews, Gays, Blacks and what-the-hell, Russians, Romanians and Americans -- there are good ones and there are bad ones.

Oddly, the titles of these two new(er) Apes movies ought to have been reversed. Clearly the first one was the "Dawn" and this new one constitutes the "Rise." But Hollywood has always been pretty terrible regarding handing out movie names, so we shouldn't expect much here. (The penultimate film in this series will probably bear the title, "The End of the Planet of the Apes," while the final film will be called "Return to the Planet of the Apes.") Because Dawn takes place around a decade after the "Simian Plague," as it has come to be called (and which was seen beginning right at the end of Rise), has decimated human kind, the movie sports an apocalyptic look -- all blues and greys and smokey fractures.

The apes are now more or less in charge and can live without the kind of needs -- fuel and electricity and such -- that humans require. Yet the human base that remains in the San Francisco area must somehow get to and make active again the dam that resides in ape territory, which could provide much-needed electrical power. This "quest" pretty much provides the plot of the movie, as well.

It also provides the conflict that arises between the two leading apes -- Caesar (Andy Serkis, above) and Koba (Toby Kebbell, below, left) -- both of whom we met in the earlier film. The former was raised in a loving environment, while the latter was subject to constant abuse for much of his earlier life, and this now marks the enormous difference between the two, as they begin to vie for power.

The humans we meet (shown below, left to right, are Kirk Acevedo, Keri Russell, Jason Clarke, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Enrique Murciano) don't register as strongly as did most of the characters in the earlier "Rise." No fault of the cast, which also includes Gary Oldman (shown at bottom). It's simply that this movie is much more ape-inclined than human: It's the simians' story.

And it's a good one -- fast-moving, exciting, propulsive. If there is nothing here as occasionally joyful or moving as the earlier film (Caesar's last line of dialog, for instance, regarding "home"), this is because "Dawn" is darker in every way. The worst has happened to mankind. We shall see, in the movies that continue this so-far excellent re-boot, if and how humanity struggles to regain a place at the table.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes -- from 20th Century Fox and running two hours and ten minutes -- is (or recently was) playing at a theater near you, in both 3D and 2D (we saw the latter). If you don't catch it now, it'll look plenty fine, come its Blu-ray debut later this year.

Rupert Wyatt's "Rise" has risen -- and those "Ape" movies will never be the same

Destined, I believe, to become one of the great movie heroes of all time -- and ironically so, since we ought to be rooting for the humans (more of this below) -- Caesar, the chimp from the new RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (shown below and above), is an amazing creation. This is thanks to the work of actor Andy Serkis and the motion-capture of the special effects people. (As a true movie buff, however, you owe it to yourself to see Mr Serkis in a film like The Cottage or the upcoming and generally dreadful Brighton Rock, in which he gives the juiciest performance, just to discover how good this guy can be without special effects.) And the movie itself? Not only does Rise put to shame the rest of of the obvious, obtuse films in the Planet of the Apes franchise, thanks to its immediacy, vibrancy and sheer, near-tactile force, it puts in the shade just about every other summer blockbuster of these past few years.

For those of us who felt that director Rupert Wyatt's last terrific film The Escapist was unduly neglected, this "Rise" is payback indeed, showing that he -- along with his writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (who, together, were among the co-writers of the under-appreciated The Relic) -- is capable of handling mainstream and making it, dear god, so much better than what we are generally offered. (I doubt that the simple line "I am home" has ever seemed so poignant or meaningful.) Handling a variety of genres in a single film -- family film, sci-fi, fantasy, action thriller and animal movie -- after giving us a state-of-the-art prison-break film with The Escapist, Mr. Wyatt, shown at right, may only be beginning to display his array of smart movie-making skills. Just wait.

One thing is certainly clear. The guy loves working with men. In a men's prison movie, this is standard, of course, but his ape movie, too, has surprisingly few females on view -- in the office/business venue or even in the "family," which is made up of only men: son (James Franco, above, right, and at bottom, right), dad (John Lithgow) and then Caesar. Thankfully, the primary woman is played by the gorgeous Frieda Pinto, (above, left) who is given little more to do than look beautiful -- which she handles quite well, of course.

How Wyatt and his team move fluidly from the sci-fi and family story to the animal-in-jeopardy and then into the all-stops-out action finale is extremely well done. Yet when the pace quickens, even the gentler, emotional scenes are handled with more subtlety and tact than we expect. Consequently we're moved when we should be (wait'll you see what Caesar draws on his wall of his cage), and then excited beyond measure as action, emotion and rush-to-justice collide.

Audiences, most of them anyway, will be rooting for the apes against the humans -- which is a very odd position for a human being to find himself. But this movie may be timelier than we know. As America sinks deeper into its morass of greed, stupidity and the utter heedlessness of a people following directives so obviously set by those who have our worst interests at heart, the film should prove a fascinating wake-up call, delivered just a tad too late. Clearly, we are incapable of governing ourselves. Great: Let the apes give it a try.

Rise of the POTA is showing just about everywhere, but the movie's web site only allows Fandango to sell you tickets. So click on the link and see if your favorite theater is included.