Synopsis: Read on IMDB

Should you watch this movie? Yes. It is one of those sequels you can watch without watching the previous one, although watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes will make the experience more enjoyable.

The story takes place 10 years after the events of Rise. Humanity has been pretty much wiped out after the virus ALZ-113 infects humans leading them to contract what is known as “simian flu” on account of apes being the carriers of the virus. A group of evolved apes, led by the ape Caesar, thrive in this new world until they clash with a group of surviving humans desperatly trying to obtain resources available in the ape territory. With tensions running high on both sides, peace between the two seems to hang on the balance and may soon result in all-out war.

This movie has the perfect combination of good story and stunning actions scenes (thinks to the brilliant special effects). It is a well written story with lots of emotional depth without compromising on the entertainment factor. If makes you wonder if we as humans are as horrible as movies portray us and then apes engage in some horrible behaviors and you think “sure, they are evolved to be more like humans. Of course they’d have those horrible feats”. Then you think, well, maybe we should just let our children be raised by wolves and they’d be better off…..wait, really? I’m the only one thinking that? I digress….

Back to the movie: the performances were very exciting on the side of the apes. Andy Serkis, the genius behind the character Caesar (and other motion-capture animation ones like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies), should just get an Oscar already for “emoting more in one look than the entire vocabulary range of say, Kristen Stewart”. The humans were ok, Jason Clarke (Malcolm), Kerri Russell (Ellie), Gary Oldman (Dreyfus) are all great actors, but the apes, like the characters of Maurice, Koba, and Blue Eyes for example (played by Karin Konoval, Toby Kebbell, Nick Thurston respectively ) are just too good they outshine them.

Overall it is an excellent movie that just as much style as it is substance. It does feel like it drags on a little to long at times, but the general experience is good. And it’ll make you interested in the Planet of the Apes saga and curious of what they’ll do with the story next!

Bechdel Test: Fail
1. It has to have at least two [named] women in it There are two named females, one human one ape. The former is played by Kerri Russell, the latter is an ape credited as “Cornelia”, played by Judy Greer
2. Who talk to each other No
3. About something besides a man No talking in any way, shape or form

Does it matter? First of all, think about a post-apocalyptic scenario where women would be missing. Right, humanity is doomed. Well, would men be missing, it would have the same catastrophic consequence, which brings me to my point: they are equally important. In the scenes of the human camp we see a ton of ladies wondering around, so why on Earth could there not have been some named ones that spoke? Why are the two named female roles built around the male protagonist? The way the story was constructed, they made no sense without the male counterpart, but that could’ve easily been fixed. So yeah, long story short, yes, it matters. I loved the movie, but hated this aspect.

Paola’s mood after watching this movie: