Maybe that’s the sad takeaway of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: that peace is futile, conflict inevitable. No matter the species, we’r...
Boston Globe July 10, 2014 Here’s a thought for the inevitable next film in this series: Ditch the humans. Stick with the apes. They’re a lot more inter...
What makes Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the superb sequel to the already enjoyable first chapter in the latest reboot of the venerable franchise...
This vivid, violent extension of humanoid ape Caesar’s troubled quest for independence bests its predecessor in nearly every technical and co...
Irish Times July 18, 2014 What we have here is a great frontier western of the old school.
RogerEbert.com July 10, 2014 "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is loud, smart and ferociously committed to its premise, and it leaves an intriguingly bitter aftertaste.
Just when it seemed like blockbusters could never evolve, in rides this extraordinary epic – a towering fable of humanity and brutality that t...
The Guardian July 20, 2014 What redeems it all is the sense that the film-makers take their subject matter seriously and imagine their audience to be as sentient as their sim...
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a summer blockbuster that defies what blockbusters are known for nowadays…
New Statesman July 24, 2014 Beginning with the eradication of mankind by the simian flu that spread at the end of the last film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the new pictur...
Dawn is nothing like as dramatically satisfying as Rise. It is slow, portentous and peculiarly dimly lit – for all of Matt Reeves’s ambi...
The Atlantic September 22, 2016 Dawn is not interested in staging conflict for the sake of it, and the misunderstandings and tensions that drive the plot don’t always feel l...
Globe and Mail July 11, 2014 It’s incredible. It sets the standard for blockbuster action movies, and manages to be even better than its predecessor.
San Diego Reader January 4, 2015 Rise of the Planet of the Apes alone justified the advent of CGI. With it comes a worthy successor.
It’s an education fable, accessorised with biffs and bangs in widescreen 3D.
The Guardian July 1, 2014 Just as 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes surpassed expectations, so this sequel delivers on its promise and leaves us wanting more – whic...
The Guardian July 17, 2014 It’s very enjoyable stuff.
Detroit News July 10, 2014 The visual look of the apes themselves is what brings it all home. Seeing is believing, and the magic of "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is that i...
Has its moments, but is no Dunston Checks In.
It is certainly thrilling to see how Reeves and his CGI wizards bring their hordes of apes to life. Honestly, if I didn’t know they were...
Independent July 18, 2014 Given the constraints under which he must have been working, being filmed with motion capture technology and under layers of heavy make-up, Serkis...
A broody and reasonably entertaining act of brand extension, marred mainly by its limited license to do anything but inch audiences a little c...
Don’t know how the special effects team pulled this off; don’t want to know.
Dawn never feels dull or draggy. It also never feels as excitingly intelligent as its Apes ancestors.
The Dissolve July 10, 2014 A visceral film, one of movement, action, unexpected developments, and disarming poignance.
"Dawn’s" vision of masses of intelligent apes swarming the screen as masters of all they survey is even more impressive than it was the last...
[A] heavy movie, even if it is hidden in the gorilla suit that is action-adventure entertainment.
New York Times July 10, 2014 It’s a satisfying movie and an example - a dispiritingly rare one these days – of what mainstream Hollywood filmmaking can still ac...
TIME Magazine July 10, 2014 When it gets going, it’s a pretty fine movie.
One of the most intelligent and entertaining big-studio releases of the summer so far.
The tone is dire, the visuals dark and doomy, the pace epically slow. Like so many sequels, it’s everything the first film aspired not to be.
[Dawn of the Planet of the Apes] is a text book example of how to stay true to the basic genetic code of a movie while also letting it evolve into...
Reeves knows how to eke pathos from CGI and heartbreak from teenaged vampires: He’s perfect for this story about the beasts that lie within.
What’s striking about this new film is that it lays out the message-mongering in such a way that you can enjoy the movie equally well on ...
You have good guys and bad guys on both sides. The audience isn’t meant to root for apes vs. humans as much as for certain characters. It&rsq...
A superbly mounted, powerfully performed, if slightly underfed Apes sequel. That Reeves is set to direct Untitled Of The Planet Of The Apes next is...
"Dawn" is that rare sequel that makes a pretty good predecessor ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes") seem almost unnecessary.
However often it risks monkey-mad silliness, it’s impressively un-stupid.
buzzfeed.com July 9, 2014 As the performance behind Caesar, Andy Serkis, along with a team of visual effects artists, has created a riveting character who is somew...
This installment inches events closer to a merge point with 1968's Planet of the Apes while maintaining its own unique identity. It is in ever...
As entertainment, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is impeccably crafted and often spectacular.
The Atlantic July 11, 2014 For the next installment, it might be wisest to forgo our own species altogether and make it all-ape. It is, after all, the logical next step in th...
This is not exactly a profound film, but it addresses its weighty themes with striking clarity and narrative nuance.
Any film that begins with one of those fake-news montages, where snippets of genuine CNN footage are stitched together to concoct a feeling of...
Serkis outdoes himself as Caesar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. This gigantic spellbinder of a movie rests on his ability to convey power...
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is still the best big budget summer movie of 2014.
This is a summer blockbuster contingent on grand bargains, tactical retreats, and a ferocious, inevitable shock-and-awe campaign.
New York Post July 10, 2014 For two hours of breathless drama, you forget you’re watching actors grunting like chimps and hope two rival civilizations can work together.
In the annals of sequels, Dawn is to Rise of the Planet of the Apes what The Empire Strikes Back was to Star Wars – it’s that much better.
Surprisingly rollicking and resonant …
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes gets to be exciting and to say something about the world instead of merely blowing it up. The apes are among the mor...
They manage to accomplish what few reboots have: to tell an origin story that honors the original work and pleases the superfans, while working as...
When a movie is inconclusive, when it’s heading nowhere, there’s no telling what should be emphasized and what should be glossed o...
This just might be the most engrossing, the smartest and the most daring "Apes" movie ever put on film.
Independent July 18, 2014 What is, perhaps, surprising, is the way the film aligns our sympathies with the apes.
Chicago Reader July 10, 2014 The human characters (played by Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, and Keri Russell, among others) are so bland they don’t stand a chance agains...
It speaks to the masses with some treats for the discerning types in the back.
Rolling Stone July 9, 2014 Within the fertile area between promise and execution, Dawn is dynamite entertainment, especially in the rousing first hour.
Toronto Star July 10, 2014 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the best and brainiest blockbuster of the summer, the kind of movie you hope for when you pay your money and buy...
For dramatic verve and emotional nuance, apes trounce people, hands down, and the movie suffers badly from the mismatch; all traces of finesse are...
A sequel to a reboot that makes a solid franchise stronger.
It’s the first big tent-pole film of 2014 that nails everything from start to finish, blending thoughtful allegory, meaningful scie...
sfweekly.com January 4, 2015 The film neuters any potential for the very type of stinging social commentary that was the original series' hallmark.
An exciting and engrossing blockbuster with weighty themes, it raises important moral questions as it keeps viewers riveted.