…is consistently engaging, and a film to be enjoyed on the big screen. It is a blockbuster in every sense of the word, offering big thrills and moments of great awe and wonder, yet it’s smart and full of feeling too.

The sequel to 2011′s well-received Rise of the Planet of the Apes is not just an astounding achievement in special effects — though there’s that too, from how the apes communicate to emote to swing from trees to wield weapons to ride horses and battle. It does one better in propelling the story towards its inevitable war and its inevitably bleak finale. In the mindless destruction they wreak on each other, the men and apes can’t be told apart — a fact that the film underlines unfailingly, at the threat of repeating itself.

A perfect summer watch which will also give you something to think about – go for it.

It’s gotten to be a very familiar ploy in Hollywood to remake previously light, cheesy entertainments with well-crafted, heavy grandiosity. So if there’s a failing of ‘Apes,’ it’s that it feels like yet another manufactured franchise. Talented people like Reeves and Serkis are brought in like HGTV fixer-uppers to restore mossy pop-culture properties.

But, alas, they’re very good at it.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is not, and never was, about a fictional future that seems scary and yet amusing to us at present.

It is about realising what we’re doing today and what could be done to us tomorrow.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes unapologetically pits humans against apes; and you can’t just be a mute spectator.

You will be forced to take sides.

Emotionally intense, deeply absorbing and visually engaging, DOTPOTA is a solid build-up to another deserving sequel. If not anything, you must watch it for Caesar aka motion capture maestro Andy Serkis. He is the ‘Godfather’ here.

Definitely watch this one for Andy Serkis. And because — cheesy as it may sound — when the end credits roll, you realise that it’s not the destination that mattered, it’s the journey this film took you on. You rarely get to say that about sequels these days. Bring on the next one!

The first film gave us a look at how the apes would eventually rise, while this one brilliantly explores their evolution and their ultimate dominance which will happen in the next film. This is one summer film you might not want to miss.

Subtlety is the key here and it makes allegorical references rather than hammer down what it is has to say. And this is not just a story of friendship between humans and animals, there is more to it. At times the apes behave like humans and vice versa. As evolution has proved, there is after all a thin line between us and our predecessors.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is not just better than its predecessor, it also reminds you why you go to the cinema to see movies. This film is one of the best this year will deliver. The future of summer blockbusters is in Reeves’ good hands.

Overall the film is superbly crafted and engaging to watch.

To have a sustained and flawless representation of the ape world and the dystopian state is no mean achievement. It is equally laudable the way it is skillfully captured by Director of Photography Michale Seresin whose frames seamlessly merge with the computer-generated images.

It is a true spectacle. There is Suspense, Thrill, Drama and whole lot of Action. If Transformers somewhat left you heart-broken, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will revive you. It is more than a tale of survival. It is about the complexities of the mind and relationships.
And if you are a fan of Andy Serkis, you mustn’t miss out this avatar of him.