It is still hard to believe that after all this time, Fox was able to so successfully resuscitate the Planet of the Apes franchise. If one can recall Summer 2011, it was clear that Rise of the Planet of the Apes was on nobody’s radar. Yet, the film turned out to be the biggest surprise of the season with great action and even greater authenticity thanks to a heartwarming motion-capture performance by Andy Serkis as Caesar. Fortune may favor the bold as Fox has again taken a step forward by doing the next film without the marquee name of James Franco. Indeed, superb character actors Jason Clarke, Keri Russell and Gary Oldman are getting to lead an ensemble that still sports Serkis as Caesar in a world where the Apes truly rule. And with Matt Reeves at the helm, director of the vastly underrated Let Me In, Fox again has a mystery box of a franchise film that we cannot wait to unwrap.
A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.
The dawn comes July 11, 2014.