Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Was a Blockbuster Unlike Any Other
The summer tentpole was so much more than it had to be
There have been many different Planet of the Apes films over the years. And while some have had mixed results, they always try to do something interesting in the realm of sci-fi. But due to the popularity of the series, the primary purpose of each new iteration and relaunch of the franchise is designed to make money for the studio, to not only help green light other projects outside of the Planet of the Apes universe, but to also make more movies set within that ape ruled world. But what made Dawn of the Planet of the Apes different wasn’t that it made a load of cash (which it definitely did), but how excellent in quality the movie actually was. The movie could have gotten away with big action, amazing motion capture performances, and a well thought out world, and it probably would have done virtually just as well at the box office. But thanks to impeccable direction by Matt Reeves (known best for directing the newest Batman film staring Robert Pattinson) and an incredible script by the likes of Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa — among others — Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a film with Shakespearean weight that does what the very best of sci-fi often hopes to do, gives us a way to understand humanity a little better by examining what we…
