Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Symbolic Masterpiece or Monkeys Fighting?

It's the return of the franchise with far too many words in its title! Once more, talking simians will reveal to us our own arrogant sense of superiority over the animal kingdom. And the critics think it's wonderful! An amazing technical achievement. A worthy successor to the ground breaking original film. But I disagree.

Caeser and Malcolm share an intimate moment

Initially, the film has much to recommend it. The decision to have the apes use sign language was a good one, and for the first half the atmosphere is suitably tense as a fragile peace exists between the menacing monkeys and the human survivors of 'simian flu'. It all kicks off when Koba decides to be bad. This seems a natural decision, Koba is an ugly ape, and as we all know, ugliness is synonymous with evil. And then there are Explosions! and Fighting! and Monkeys....With Big Guns! And any sense of intelligence dies.
It is very pretty (you would hope so with how much money they've spent on it!). The apes settlement looks magnificent, and in a way their attack on the humans' residence is rather thrilling. But if I wanted visual spectacle and people fighting in an Epic Style, I'd go and watch a Michael Bay film.
I gradually became very upset, and my gentle weeping may have distracted some of my fellow cinema goers. In the original Planet of the Apes, the apes had Deep Conversations about the ethics of keeping humans as second class citizens. Here they just shoot them. And I began to realise that the entire film was bereft of characters. Malcolm is Decent. Dreyfus is Selfish and Narrow Minded. Carver is Violent. Caeser is Wise. And the plot is fairly predictable. Spoiler alert, but Good triumphs over Evil.

Koba does his gangster pose

Are there any redeeming qualities to Matt Reeve's simian shenanigans? Well, perhaps you could say that Caeser is actually a little too much like his Roman namesake, and he has a totalitarian hold over his fellow apes. But we're encouraged to see him as warm and loveable, and not question his demand for absolute obedience. The whole thing is a deeply pessimistic comment about humanity: different cultures will always feel threatened when they live side by side and peace is impossible; fitting when you consider the current Middle East crisis. But this film is squarely aimed at people who want a feast for the eyes, not the mind.
So I emerged from the cinema with a heavy heart. Contrary to general opinion, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a lot better. That had Ethical Questions about animal testing. None of the apes were brandishing machine guns then. So, my advice: ignore those that say otherwise, avoid at all costs.