The film Dawn of the Planet of the Apes provides a fair amount of likeable aspects for its viewers. Three of the them are not originality, filming locations, or appropriate length. The injection of the standard issue Hollywood Summer Epic techniques (e.g., the overlong, implausible fight between hero and villain towards the end of the film), Campbell River British Columbia posing as Marin County California, and 15-20 minutes of needless screen time hurt what could otherwise be a memorable movie.
However, what Dawn of the Planet of the Apes offers to its viewers are strong lead characters, a sometimes compelling storyline and computer generated images (CGI) that in limited ways are terrific (i.e., the apes facial expression). Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings, The Prestige, The Hobbit) reprises his role as Caesar the leader of the apes. Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, White House Down) plays Malcomb the leader of the expedition team of the human survivors. Both actors and the script associated with their roles are worthy of the price of a movie ticket. Pretty much everything else in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes you have probably seen many, many, many times before and more often than not of better quality.
