Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, impressively telling the beginning.

A new Planet of the Apes story is starting this July! I am extremely excited. I loved the previous Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and now the extension of that story (apparently 10 years later), is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. There is a thriving ape colony in the forest we saw at the end of the first movie, and Caesar is straining to keep things under control between apes and the surviving population of humans (following the Simian flu devastation).

What I really enjoy about all this, is there is a realness to it all that I missed in the original series of movies. Back then it all seemed rather silly, contrived, and overwhelmingly goofy. Sure, it had a great zinger at the end of the movie, with the Statue of Liberty being buried and the realization (much like the Soylent Green movie). Back then, science fiction loved to do such things. Now, though, audiences are demanding more intelligence and consequences. We want to see one thing cause another, and follow the progression.

This new mythology of the apes is convincing. I can imagine the next steps, and smile as they happen. Sure, that means there is a certain inevitability about it all (we know where it leads), but that doesn't matter to me. I want to witness it happen. And these new movies are filling a desire I didn't know I had.

I can't wait to see the new movie, and eagerly anticipate what I guess will be a roaring finale in a couple of years. I love witnessing history in the making, and we are watching it now as the Planet of the Apes story is reworked with care and aplomb. I'm rooting for Caesar, despite myself. He's a great character!

- M