Gary Oldman Survives The Apocalypse In This Streaming Sci-Fi Classic Reimagined
From Commissioner Gordan to Sid Vicious, Gary Oldman has played his share of interesting roles, but only one film had him acting alongside an army of CGI monkeys in the post-apocalyptic USA. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes isn’t just a mouthful of a title. It’s also the rare sequel that surpasses its predecessor, and you can stream it right now on Max.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was enough of a success that a sequel was all but inevitable. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the Empire Strikes Back of the Apes trilogy in many ways. It’s darker than the original and expands upon Rise‘s themes in new and exciting ways. It also swaps out James Franco for Gary Oldman, something many viewers would arguably consider an improvement.
Dawn‘s cast also includes newcomers Keri Russell and Jason Clarke as married couple Ellie and Malcolm, as well as returning motion capture vet Andy Serkis again playing ape leader Ceaser and Toby Kebbel stepping into the role of Koba, his rival.
Gary Oldman revealed that he took the role of Dreyfus in Dawn because he liked the script, and he was a very big fan of the original 1968 Planet of the Apes starring Charlton Heston.
The new film takes place eight years after the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes when the world’s human population has been decimated by the simian flu that was released at the end of the previous film. Only 1 in 500 humans survived, leaving their future as a species up in the air.
Especially when compared to the growing community of super-intelligent simians starting to take over. Ceaser is content to live peacefully with the humans and apes, each keeping to themselves, but his rival Koba has other plans and starts a war with a group of human survivors led by Gary Oldman’s Dreyfus. As always, it comes down to humans vs. apes, and let’s just say there’s a reason the title isn’t Dawn of the Planet of the Humans.
Initially, Rise director Rupert Wyatt was set to direct the sequel, based on a screenplay by Rise writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. When 20th Century Fox set a release date of May 2014, Wyatt exited the project, citing concerns that the concrete release window wouldn’t give him enough time to make the movie properly. Not long after Wyatt left, James Franco announced that he wouldn’t be reprising his role of Will Rodman for the sequel in a show of solidarity with the director.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes swaps out James Franco for Gary Oldman, something many viewers would arguably consider an improvement.
Matt Reeves was brought on board along with writer Mark Bomback, who was tasked with doing a re-write of Jaffa and Silver’s script at Reeves’ request. Once the new director was in place, actors Gary Oldman, Jason Cark, Keri Russell, and Judy Greer were brought on board the project. The movie began filming in April of 2013 in British Columbia. Further locations include Vancouver Island and New Orleans.
Unlike Rise, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes filmed most of its motion capture footage on location, something Andy Serkis claimed made actors in motion capture suits extremely “sweaty and smelly.”
Gary Oldman once admitted that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was one of the few movies he didn’t sign onto for the money. The actor revealed in a 2014 interview that he took the role of Dreyfus in Dawn because he liked the script, and he was a very big fan of the original 1968 Planet of the Apes starring Charlton Heston.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is streaming on Max.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was released on July 11, 2014. It was a massive success, even garnering the unofficial title of “the summer’s best popcorn film” from several critics. The movie ended up grossing $708.8 million globally against a budget of roughly $80 million, making it the highest-grossing movie in the Planet of the Apes franchise and the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2014.
The Gary Oldman, sci-fi action film has an impressive critic score of 91 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with the site’s synopsis being, “With intelligence and emotional resonance to match its stunning special effects, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes expands on its predecessor with an exciting and ambitious burst of sci-fi achievement.
The movie went on to spawn a sequel, War for the Planet of the Apes, again directed by Matt Reeves. Woody Harrelson replaced Gary Oldman as the human antagonist due to Dreyfus’s death in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Today, the second chapter in the Rise of the Planet of the Apes trilogy is still widely considered the best, thanks in no small part to amazing performances from Gary Oldman and Andy Serkis. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is available to stream now on Max.
