Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Keri Russell and Jason Clarke star in the summer blockbuster smash, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The apes and human are forced to coexist or go to war. When the humans find a power source in the animal’s territory, the invasion, which was built on trust comes to a complete halt.

Call me naive but the humans playing apes idea was ingenious. Modern technology has evolved and turned actors like Andy Serkis and Karin Konoval into real-life apes. Every movie detail, from the setting to the simians, made the film come alive. The first movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, was recognized with a 2012 Academy nomination for great special effects.

The movie title wasn’t the only long thing in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The actually movie is a little more than 2 hours. The feeding frenzy continues as a minimum 120-minute running time becomes the norm. In accordance with other recent successful long movies, like America Hustle and Wolf of Wall Street, the film is a little exaggeration and could have easily been execution with less time.

With less than one month into summer, it’s easy to label Dawn of the Planet of the Apes the best summer movie (thus far). The only previously released summer movie to compare it to is Transformers: Age of Extinction. Tammy is ok and Think Like A Man Too is mediocre also.

Real movie lovers know that The Purge: Anarchy, Scarlett Johannsons and Morgan Freeman’s sci-fi flick, Lucy, and my childhood memoir, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles still have yet to grace the big screen. The Black film circuit is buzzing about James Brown’s biopic, Get On Up, which will be released August 1st. But, their summer releases are vastly approaching. I can’t wait!

4 Stars: Kid-friendly and MSQ approved, this simian sequel is definitely a summer requirement. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11th.