Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – “Koba is not ape”
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is another film that was better than it had any right to be. Its predecessor, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, was a great reset button for the Planet of the Apes franchise, but lightning usually doesn’t strike twice in tentpole blockbusters, and there were several points at which Dawn could have gone off the rails and fallen short of greatness.
Luckily for us, director Matt Reeves took the reins of the franchise and knew exactly what to do with it: focus on the apes. Humans are positioned as the flawed species, but over the course of the film we see that apes are more like us than they realize. With their newfound intelligence comes a wave of human-like emotions and desires, and they begin to develop fear, rage and jealousy all the same.
That is conveyed perfectly by the dynamic between Caesar (Andy Serkis) and Koba (Toby Kebbell), the two ape leaders who butt heads multiple times throughout the film. Koba is driven by anger and hatred toward the humans, and eventually turns those feelings toward Caesar. He attempts to kill him, blames it on the humans, launches a full-scale and fatal attack on the San Franciscan human colony, and begins to lead the apes through fear and domination. He even breaks the one rule banding the primates together: Ape no kill ape.
At the end of the film, Caesar realizes that humanity has corrupted the apes, and faces off with Koba in a high-adrenaline, emotional climax. He comes out on top and has the chance to save Koba. Koba reminds him that “ape no kill ape,” but Caesar tells him, “Koba is not ape.” He then lets go of his hand, allowing Koba to fall to his death.
That distinction is a turning point for Caesar, and, I suspect, for all apekind. Until now, Caesar has viewed the human/ape conflict as a fight between “us and them,” but by film’s end, he’s come to realize that the lines are blurrier than he could have ever imagined.
– James Garcia
Selma – Edmund Pettus Bridge Protest
You likely haven’t yet had a chance to see Ava DuVernay’s Selma, but don’t miss it under any circumstances when it arrives in theaters on Christmas Day. The film, a biopic about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, is one of the year’s best – a stirring and crucial testament to those who fought for racial equality in America, as well as a solemn (and unfortunately well-timed) reminder of the fact that we don’t yet live in a post-racial society.
DuVernay’s film is filled with gorgeously shot, heart-wrenchingly powerful scenes. The most unshakeable of those is her staging of “Bloody Sunday,” the infamous day on which protesters violently clashed with police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Eerily and brilliantly shot by ace cinematographer Bradford Young (one of the few cinematographers out there who can light black actors with skill and beauty), it’s a shocking, searing examination of the time’s hatred and brutality toward African-Americans. Up there with 12 Years a Slave‘s whipping scene, it unfolds on screen before you just once but replays in your mind for months afterward, never losing an ounce of its chilling forcefulness.
– Isaac Feldberg