This level of subtlety and the darkness it evokes is reminiscent of Herman Melville's work in stories like BENITO CERENO. The ease with which the embittered, scarred ape becomes a clowning, playful monkey (just for as long as it takes to get his hands on a gun) literally sent shivers down my spine. Watch the scene where he infiltrates the human settlement and gets two redneck survivors to lower their weapons with fatal results.
His sly, Machiavellian cunning and his utter lack of remorse remind me of Shakespeare's classic villains. Koba, with his scars, his blinded eye, and his horrible memories of life as a lab specimen, is a far more tragic figure. Basically he came across like the mean, redneck sheriff in a Burt Reynolds movie. He was a bully, and he saw himself as superior to humans. Aldo was a big, dumb bruiser, and nothing more. General Aldo, the gorilla bully in BATTLE, plays much the same role as Koba in DAWN. The characters are more nuanced, and the performances more tragic. The thing that impressed me so deeply is that the same plot was far more powerful and dramatic the second time around. But when an evil ape consumed by race hatred (species hatred) decides to take the law into his own hands, both Caesar's life and his family's future is at stake. Having won equality and a new start, Caesar attempts to create a simple, rural civilization where humans and apes can peacefully coexist. From a purist's point of view, DAWN is not so much a sequel to RISE as a brilliant re-imagining of the fifth and final film in the original series, BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES. From the first few minutes I was mesmerized by the intensity of the apes, the beauty of the scenery and set design, the power and simplicity of the dialogue, even when (especially when) it was mostly delivered in sign language. I am an old school Apes purist and I loved the culture, philosophy and political commentary of the original films so much that I truly dreaded the new series. The apes and their world were the center of my childhood. I waited months to see each sequel as it came on TV. I saw the original PLANET OF THE APES on television as a 10 year old in 1973. Last night I saw it on a rented library DVD and I was absolutely amazed! Let me explain where I'm coming from. I hated RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES so much that I refused to even see DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES when it was in theaters.
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