Dawn of the Planet of the Apes earns a high accuracy score from a primate expert. Released in 2014, the second installment in the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise marks director Matt Reeves’ first installment in the saga. The sequel takes place about 10 years after 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, following Caesar (Andy Serkis) as he forms a tentative alliance with a human, Malcolm (Jason Clarke), to prevent all-out war between human and ape-kind.

In a recent video for Insider, primate expert Mireya Mayor analyzes scenes from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, finding that the film features a number of accurate elements.

According to Mayor, Reeves’ film accurately portrays apes’ ability to learn and understand sign language, as well as their ability to coordinate hunting strategies and use basic tools. Check out selections of Mayor’s analysis below, as well as her score for the film out of 10:

“Non-verbal communication and gesturing like we see here is actually not uncommon. While we generally hear chimps being really loud and vocal, there’s also much more subtle ways they are able to relay a message and communicate.

“So Caesar eventually teaches a sign language to the other apes… This is not something that naturally occurs in nature. This is something that is learned behavior. So if a chimpanzee is taught sign language they are in fact very capable of passing that on to another generation of chimpanzees because it’s all learned.

“Chimps aren’t necessarily known for sophisticated tools, but we know the famous story of the little fishing tool that Jane Goodall documented with chimps fishing for termites. And in this case we’re seeing a spear, and that is also something that chimps have been documented to make. And they use them to actually spear galagos out of tree hollows.

“When I look at Caesar, it’s almost like the eyes are slightly more human-like. They’ve been softened up a little bit. Overall, the features that we see in Planet of the Apes tend to look and appear a little more human-like than we see in wild chimps.

“It really shows what chimpanzees are intelligent enough and capable of doing, which is to organize a hunt, make spears, so yeah I’m thinking a nine out of 10.”

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Solidified The Reboot Franchise’s Success

The Matt Reeves Film Was A Big Hit

Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes in 2001 may have scraped by at the box office, but the film was very poorly received. It essentially stalled the franchise until Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes injected new life into it. This 2011 reboot made $481.8 million at the box office, and was generally well-received. In addition to boasting breathtaking CGI visuals, the film introduced characters that audiences cared about, notably Serkis’ Caesar.

After Rise illuminated a path forward for the franchise, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes affirmed that this new direction was working. The sequel, which boasted a darker, more serious tone, in addition to some impressive visual leaps, was big hit with critics and audiences alike. As seen in the chart above, it’s also the highest-grossing entry in the rebooted franchise thus far, and the new Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is very unlikely to beat it.

Although War for the Planet of the Apes may not have reached the same box office highs, Reeves’ final installment served as a moving and satisfying conclusion to Caesar’s story. The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes reviews have been similarly positive (though Reeves doesn’t direct the film), further cementing the franchise as one of the most reliably entertaining and successful properties out there. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes may now be 10 years old, but it remains a high point of the franchise, and it evidently features some elements that are true to life.

Source: Insider