Toast to The Rise of The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

For a summer blockbuster, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" offers nuanced direction, pulse-pounding music, astounding art direction, a basic but driven storyline, and terrific special effects that don't ruin it all. While the acting isn't award-winning -- well, not from the human characters -- you do have characters you come to like or dislike. But you do learn to appreciate them. In other words, this isn't the loud, bombastic, non-sense that is the latest Transformers film, which has ruined my childhood -- again.

"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" picks up a little where we left off with the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." A quick, unnerving beginning scene uses real shots of riots and people addressing outbreaks to quickly take us through the history of the fictional simian virus, which has killed off most of humanity in a decade and leaving Caesar and his genetically-enhanced fellow simians to evolve to become almost dominant species on Earth. A scouting trip for a small band of humans from the ruins of San Francisco into the forests of Northern California triggers conflict with Caesar in his clan.

How far have special effects come in the last few years? Astounding work by WETA Digital in putting realistic touches to the variety of apes portrayed. But Andy Serkis deservedly gets top billing as Caesar. The first film was more about humanity's hubris.... a drive to create a cure for a disease turns into a death sentence for mankind and gives way to simians to assert their power--maybe reassert is the proper term.

This film is about Caesar, raising his family, attempting to educate the rest of the simians. Loyalty, love and knowledge as power quick emerge as traits mutually shared between humans and simians. But not all the simians are interested in educating themselves and leaving the remnant of humanity to live in the ruins of its creation in some sort of uneasy coexistence. Some, if they have the opportunity and feel pushed, use revenge as a reason to kill humans.

But back to Serkis...he's more than the go-to guy for slo-mo capture effects acting. The guy can act, period. He has more than Gollum and King Kong in his arsenal. Caesar emotes strength, leadership, loyalty, perspective, compassion in his facial expressions, vocalizations, body language, the few words he learns to speak.

The few action scenes in the first hour and a half are relatively brief but filled more with suspense and drama then pure traditional action. As one ape turns on another in the build up to the climax, it's all leading to a pay off. It's like a war movie where the fate of every character, in the end, is unknown until the final sequence. It's parts thrilling, shocking and disheartening, the violence of it all.

Some of the music by JJ Abrams regular composer Michael Giacchino, and intricate direction by - yes- JJ Abrams colleague Matt Reeves, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" pays a bit of tribute to the old, classic "Planet of the Apes" flicks while preparing a new generation for a new slate of "Apes" films that look just as exciting. And we've almost erased the memory of Tim Burton/Mark Wahlberg's unfortunate "Planet of the Apes" remake.