Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

The sequel to 2011's Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes hits hard and may well be up there with some of the great sequels such as Empire Strikes Back and The Dark Knight.

Set roughly ten years after brainy chimp Caesar (Serkis doing what he does best) leads an ape uprising on San Francisco, he has started a family and rules over the now tribal Apes who all inhabit the Muir Woods. Caesar stands as the apes ruler while his friends you may not remember from the first film, stand as his confidants. Koba the heavily scarred bonobo chimp has a long standing resentment of the humans who probed and experimented on him acts as mentor to Caesars teenage son Blue Eyes. Maurice the orangutan takes charge of the young apes education and teaches them the rules of their new world, most importantly, 'Ape must not kill Ape.' you could say both Maurice and Koba each represent a half of Caesars conscience, with the heavy decisions that befall Caesar he is often seen hearing advice from each of his friends, Koba however tends not to be as forgiving.

Enter the eventual human side of the story, the out break of ALZ-113 virus meant to cure Alzheimer's instead wiped out 99% of the human population and has been dubbed 'Simian Flu' however there is a small band of survivors apparently immune to the virus residing in the dilapidated ruins of San Francisco. Having burnt through nearly all of their energy, Malcom (Jason Clarke) takes a small group through the woods in an attempt to restart a hydro-electric dam. Thus begins the uneasy downwards spiral of trust between the apes. Caesar recalling the memories of his old foster father is slowly easing into assisting the humans much to the dismay of Koba.

Interestingly enough the seamless CGI and grand storytelling of course paves way for more sequels, I found myself being fine with an entirely CGI movie, the relationships between the apes feels so foreign yet close all at once. Compelling visually and one of the best credits I can give the film is that you forget a lot of this is built up on a computer, you're taken into the world and accept it for what it is. There are less ham handed call backs to the original series, I didn't feel like a Charlton Heston quote would improve any of it, the only thing that was a bit of a callback was the soundtrack which genuinely works, nothing gritty or what we're used to getting lately, but the beating of tightly wound war drums gives an authentic tribal feel in a concrete jungle.

Naturally the human cast take the back seat and none of them really remain that memorable, even Gary Oldman, veteran actor and a man who surely has merited an academy award by now doesn't have too much to work with. The true praise deservedly goes to the motion capture team who brought the apes to life, convincing behaviour and movement yet strangely human in parts, Andy Serkis once again proves he's the king of motion capture but Toby Kebbel gives him a run for his money in this one. Kebbel plays the ally turned antagonist Koba, a character that quickly became one of my favourite villains of the decade, sure he looks frightening and you tense up a little when he moves around the human characters but he's at his most terrifying when the film portrays how intelligent they have really become. Violent, sadistic and meticulously cunning, Koba is an oddly sympathetic villain who carries the explosive third act where things literally go apeshit.

 A worthy entry into a saga of (mostly) classics, (looking at you Tim Burton). If you enjoy your big budget blockbusters with compelling storytelling this will probably tide you over long enough for the sequel.

The Fault In Our Stars

I'm going to be honest guys, romance and teen drama is usually not my thing but this adaptation of the critically acclaimed John Green novel tends to hit home compared to your usual run of the mill love story.

The Fault In Our Stars is grim, tragic and oddly beautiful. The story follows the lives of two star crossed lovers who connect through a shared affliction that most of us will face in one way or another in our lives, Cancer. Shailene Woodley stars as Hazel Grace, a teenager coping with terminal thyroid cancer and as such has to carry around an oxygen tank with her everywhere. Hazel begins the movie as cynical and rightfully depressed that her mother and doctor assures her is a side effect of cancer, she eloquently retorts that depression isn't a side effect of cancer, it's a side effect of dying. One of the many incredibly memorable lines present that really is pushing me in the direction of reading the book, I'm consistently told to. She at one point also refers to herself as a grenade as a way to dissuade anyone from getting close to her. Her condition leaves her unable to do much adventurous but sit around and watch day time television and read her favourite book, 'An Imperial Affliction' a story written the elusive Peter Van Houten (Willem Dafoe).

Her antithesis however takes the form of self assured and wildly optimistic Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) a cancer survivor who's operation to remove his osteosarcoma has sadly cost him one of his legs, rather than dwelling on it however he puts his best foot forward (pun intended) and begins to bring Hazel Grace out of her shell and even smile from time to time. He's hard not to like and everyone could use somebody like him from time to time, one thing that doesn't hold up on the big screen though is his habit with cigarettes. I'm told in the novel it's quite clever but he keeps a pack of cigarettes and will have an unlit one in his mouth, his reasoning is having something dangerous close to him but not giving it the power to kill him, It's a metaphor apparently, on screen it comes off a little pretentious sadly.

There is great chemistry between all cast members here, this is a love story and even though it involves some of the usual tropes you'll see in every other movie it's very human treatment of cancer is one of the more moving moments in the film, Hazel Grace's relationship with her woefully conflicted mother really reminds you that in a family it isn't just the person with cancer that suffers, behind closed doors loved ones will drop the brave faces and fall apart, Laura Dern (remember the paleobotanist in Jurassic Park? She digs in the triceratops crap?) is one of the films greatest players, and even at the characters weakest moments displays a plethora of heart and emotion.

An incredibly poignant scene mid way through involving the Anne Frank House has Hazel struggling to make her way up the steep stairs to the haunting yet empowering words of Anne Frank herself is something I came away fondly remembering. Much to the protest of Augustus who tells her she doesn't have to do it, she perseveres dragging her oxygen tank with her, a physical manifestation of the weight she's been carrying for years, she makes it to the top and reminds the audience of the raw determination of the human spirit, I think if you see any scene from the movie then find this one.

Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Webber do well with the source material and some of the lines that you'd imagine would only work in print flow seamlessly with a little help from the actors, I'm often told that John Green really understands the young mind but I'm a little hesitant with the statement. I rather believe that he just has a knack for understanding the human spirit and in a story rife with foreboding messages and inevitable misery he reminds you to live the life you've got while you have it. So yeah ladies and gents, not your every day love story.

Probably one for the ladies gents but for the softer among you bring a tissue or two.