Rewatched a few films over the weekend.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) was pretty decent, even better than I had recalled, it directly grapples with both humans and apes on the same level trying to regain a foothold in a collapsing world and shows how humans and apes really aren't that much different in terms of being self-protective, anxious over the risks involved in peace, and/or how some on both sides don't even flinch at resorting to violence or actively take the hate they were taught as something to retaliate with. There's just the RIGHT amount of first-film callback without depending on it for warm fuzzies, and it just makes it clearer how the world has changed since the first film. The CGI (considering all the heavy lifting it had to do) is pretty great, and of course Andy Serkis is amazing. I did not watch all the original five films but my son says it weaves elements (thematic and character) from the earlier series more productively.
I don't really understand why this trilogy never gets talked about much. it's like it's too mature/heady to win over mass crowds despite being somewhat of spectacle. It's all very well-done and very thoughtful.
Also rewatched Let Me In (which I haven't seen for years), ironically also Matt Reeves directing. While I favor the Swedish version, which is less sanitized and colder, this isn't a bad adaptation and has a bit better special effects. While I am a Moretz fan, I feel like her character here (Abby for this version, normally Eli) is a bit flat and mopey. Not really her fault if she wasn't getting direction or having the script be more intuitive. I'll have to think back through her other films, she might be a bit like Natalie Portman -- they both can render some really powerful performances, if the director tells them what he needs, but otherwise might scan as a bit aimless.
I find it really fascinating to watch Kodi Smith-McPhee as a boy after watching him as a young man in "The Power of the Dog" this past year. (He also did an excellent job as the voice of Norman in Laika's "ParaNorman".) He's highly underrated, honestly. Even as a kid he could have a kind of opaque/blankness about him and then suddenly emote powerfully. Physically he also has a kind of odd / fae look based on where his eyes are set, it makes him look a bit otherworldly.
www.typologycentral.com
