Director: Matt Reeves

Starring: Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell

Cert 12A; 130 mins

If Transformers was the disease then Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is the cure. Proof that not all summer blockbusters should be tarred with the same brush of critical disdain arrives in this intelligent, exciting and surprisingly moving sequel.

The original Apes films always worked on different levels of political comment and speculative science-fiction and the latest addition to the series is no exception. Dawn blends emotional drama with pulse-racing action sequences and is easily the thinking person’s blockbuster.

Dawn quickly gets down to business with an economical opening sequence that charts how simian flu has swept across the globe killing millions and causing the collapse of civil order. Only small communities of humans still exist, growing increasingly desperate as fuel supplies run low and hope becomes a luxury they can no longer afford.

Ape communities are thriving and Andy Serkis is once again remarkable in a motion capture performance as wise ape leader Caesar. He presides over a tribe of apes that communicates with sign language.

There are rules and order in a world where it has been declared that apes shall not kill apes. A new born child prompts this proud father to consider how far they have come in such a short time.

There is a serpent or two slithering around this paradise on earth in the shape of belligerent ape Koba (Toby Kebbell) and in the threat from a human population seeking to rebuild and reclaim the world they lost. Apes are taking great leaps forward in evolution whilst humans never seem to learn from their mistakes.

Humans need to gain control of the O’Shaughnessy Dam to start generating power once again. It is right in the heart of Caesar’s community. We pretty much know that Dawn will not end in peace and harmony and that innocence will be lost along the way but it is how we get to that end destination that really matters.

Gary Oldman’s Dreyfus has vowed to restore human supremacy but Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Ellie (Keri Russell) believe that peaceful co-existence is possible. Caesar puts a misguided trust in the loyalty of his fellow apes. Everyone is in for a rude awakening.