News flash: Yesterday (July 14, 3:40 p.m. Pacific Time) I made a rare appearance in a movie theater to watch "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014) with my two V companions. Brother-Husband has a thing for "all things monkey" so naturally he's hyped about the Planet of the Apes saga.
I give it a solid thumbs up -- as I do its prequel, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011). We live in an age of extensive CGI and special effects, and while the 2011 and 2014 Apes movies are both packed with such special effects, they
- tend to not use them in nearly as in-your-face a style as so many movies today,
- keep the action elements down to a dull roar,
- balance all of it with a real plot, interesting characters, good acting, etc.
I would recommend both movies, and hope this franchise of new Planet of the Apes movies will continue to produce more sequels. They're definitely worth this viewer's while.