Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

Thoughts On: Dawn of The Planet Of The Apes (2014)

The second film of our exploration of The Planet Of The Apes Prequel Trilogy.


Dawn is centred on the apes building upon the foundation of Rise by developing law and moral standards in their community. We see this as soon as we're told that humans are all being infected by the Simian Flue.


The Apes solidify their community with laws and ethics such as 'Ape not kill ape' and 'Ape together stronger'. These are the lessons that Rodman gave Caesar to leave the Garden of Eden with, and so Dawn is primarily about these notions being challenged. This is done with a strong focus on the human's struggle for survival and the fact that they are now realising that they aren't the no.1 species on the planet, as, without our tools, apes are very starkly the superior species. For this reason, the humans attempt to re-establish their technological basis. But, is this safe for the apes?

A lot of this movie is then focused on an idea of "too complicated". We talked about this with the movie No Man's Land, and this concept is simply a recognition that humans often allow chaos and disorder, ironically, through simplistic and short-sighted thinking, to take rule over a system when they begin to see things as too complicated. This is a stance encapsulated by the dichotomy between separatists and reformists; between, as one example, Koba and Caesar. We then see a paradigm that repeats itself throughout history plague this film. How do conflicting groups reach a peaceful agreement without blowing the whole thing up? Koba's answer is that peace can only be established after destructive separation, whilst Caesar begins this narrative believing that peace can be established with a calmer separation, but later assumes the position of a peaceful alliance.

This is constantly challenged, however, because if humans are to survive, they have to work around the apes. And thus there is introduced an idea of poison both in the human group and the ape group.


These poisons are the individuals that selfishly want to force separation and establish domination. This is an idea that is linked, problematically so, to co-survival because both groups want a stable home in which they may thrive, which means strength. And strength is the one idea that Rodman never really provided Caesar with before he left the Garden; he was awakened, given intelligence and morals, but remained naive within the protection of 'God'. Caesar then funnels this element of his personality and his survival through both hatred and love, or, at least, this is how they manifest themselves. We have already seen Caesar utilise strength intelligently in the Rise, however, throughout Dawn, all of his actions are guided by a yearning for peace and stability. Because he then loves his family group, he protects them, showing strength as to keep them stable. However, as Koba suggests, Caesar also harbours a love for humanity. It is through this that strength must surface again as to protect what little love for humanity Caesar still shares.

What we are thus seeing through this rift within Caesar is an extension of his foresight; to protect the future, he has to decide what evils must be forgiven and what goods must be revealed to be poison. This is why when classical themes of 'regicide', what we can equate to killing a king, find their way into the narrative, Caesar has to recognise the poison in his 'good' social group whilst continuing to act mercifully and with trust towards the humans - and this intellectual recognition extends to his closest friends such as Maurice.


As Koba takes over the ape group and leads them into battle, there is then a demonstration of two archetypes; the merciful, wise king and the corrupt, evil king. In such, not only wouldn't Caesar readily go to war (let alone instigate one through attempted murder), but if he did, his battles would be thought of as a tactful means of overcoming an enemy - as we saw in Rise. With Koba, the corrupt, evil king, war is an outlet for evil and violent catharsis; it has no regard for his people or a greater ideal which leads to a lot of unnecessary death. Koba's sacrifices, some of which are committed directly by himself...


... are then an expression of his evil; his 'sacrifice' does not unite the group through ideals of good, family and home, instead, fear - something that extends into War.

It is at this time, and with one of the most expressive sequences in this film, that Caesar returns to his Garden of Eden to reflect on all that he was taught.


It's here where he learns two things, 1) apes are not better than humans, and, 2) his father was not God, instead, just a good man. This signifies one major step in Caesar's maturity; he has reached a point as an ape (as a 'man') that is equal to Rodman's, allowing him to see him not so much as God, but just a man. This completes Caesar's reconciliation with him that ended Rise and shatters the Rodman-God metaphor. As a result, this is also what allows Caesar to decide to establish peace with humans as equals with the understanding that, whilst the work of humanity seems to be at the expense of humans, and in this respect God has left apes (Koba) with scars, humans are not one simple collective; there are good people and there is evil. And in such, Caesar is really beginning to understand what his Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil really taught him.

With this knowledge, Caesar has to revise his ideals such as 'Ape not kill ape' and 'Ape stronger together' to begin to surpass human morality and social structuring. He must do this because there is such a thing as poison, and it has manifested itself in the form of Koba, who cannot reconcile with 'God', with the higher power that is/was humanity. So, what Caesar must to is recognise that apes are not stronger when their structure is being poisoned, and also that not all apes are apes that contribute to the higher ideals of the group. This all manifests into this moment:


After defending himself and exploiting Koba's weaknesses (as represented through their battle), Caesar has to decide whether or not to allow evil to fall into demise - a decision that he indirectly makes in the end of Rise when Koba pushes the helicopter over the bridge; a helicopter that held a human figure of evil and a lack of foresight; Jacob, another poison. This, Caesar allowing evil to fall, is Caesar's ultimate demonstration of strength, a culmination of physicality, morality and intelligence, and it leaves him a great king in his infancy.


However, there is a question we must ask ourselves. What does Caesar now perceive, how does he see his future?


As is demonstrated with his farewell to the 'good human', Malcolm, both humans and apes have failed as a consequence of their poisoned structures - and this is going to lead to war. However, this is going to be a war between the virtuous apes and the corrupt humans, because, for now, the few good people who are not under the rule of poison are going to escape. The implications of this, whilst hopeful now, will then only be resolved in War.



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