Dawn of the Planet of the Apes **½ (PG-13) I’m starting to OD on big-budget action flicks featuring massive computer-generated battle sequences. Even so, there’s something to like about this sequel to 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The saga resumes about 10 years later, with Caesar (Andy Serkis), the simian who learned how to speak, having established a thriving colony in Muir Woods, not having seen any human survivors of the global viral epidemic for a long time. Then a few show up. There are enclaves of us; one in nearby San Francisco. They need to reactivate a dam that’s on Caesar’s turf. Neither side understands or trusts the other. Apes were the source of the devastating pathogen; humans had a longer track record of mistreating their ancestors (zoos, lab experiments, habitat destruction, etc.). Not the climate for warm fuzzies among the warm or the fuzzy.
Some well-intentioned leaders work out a tentative truce, while other hawkish, paranoid members of both species undermine the prospects for peaceful coexistence. There’s not much one could call novel about the story, but the execution is commendable. It takes a while to tell which ape is which, since they’re not distinguishable by clothing, as was the case in the original series of films from the 1970s. Some of the "dialog" is subtitled. Analogies to historical and current political events and polemics are anything but subtle, but still valid. Mayhem staging is quite good, though I don’t think 3-D enhanced it as fully as in several other recent sci-fi epics. Enjoy the ride; another sequel is in the works. (7/11/14)