The greatest directors in the history of filmmaking usually exploit the various attributes at their disposal to communicate the prevailing social issues in a captivating manner to command a wide fan base. This goes beyond choosing the genre that their intended viewers are likely to identify with and may incorporate among others characterization, the plotline, and the cinematic language that is within their capacity. Matt Reeves, in the film titled Dawn of the Planet of Apes, introduces ape characters to address the complexity of human conflict and the underlying social issues. This trend is repeated in its sequel War for the Planet of the Apes as is the case in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos are cast alongside humans in Reeves films to highlight the prevailing conditions in the global society.
By introducing apes as characters in the same level as humans, the director has elevated them and diminished humans as equals among primates. Worse still it is inferred that man has reached the height of evolution and is on a backward trend that will lead to self destruction while the apes rise as the most intelligent of the primates ( Dawn of the Planet of Apes, 2014). The revolution can be seen as a punishment to man for being inhuman whereby he is either demoted to live in subhuman conditions. Man is also threatened with extinction in the film, a warning to a critical viewer that apes might in future be left as the only remaining resemblances of humans if the society does not check its current developments.
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The director opts for the science fiction genre to parallel Darwinism with the underlying scientific interpretations. A scientific approach is the most appropriate in explaining man’s hand in self destruction when he is showcased in experiments that get out of hand. The ALZ-113 virus that the humans developed and tested on apes has turned into a pandemic on to the human and decimated mankind while on the other hand it has boosted the intelligence of apes ( Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 2011). The apes that have been captured for experimentation often go through inhuman treatment whereby the turn of events is seen as poetic justice to man for his misdeeds. The viewer is reminded that scientific experimentation may turn nature against man.
The adjustments in the apes’ intelligence and the population ratio to humans are other motifs that the director uses to highlight the social conflicts in the film. This serves as a guide to the critical viewer to identify with the development and assess the negative effects of man’s prior dominance. In The Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the intelligent apes have founded a territory in the Muir Woods which also serves man’s interest as a source of hydroelectric power. The times have changed, however, and the humans have to get permission from the Caesar and are even ordered to leave when they engage in misconduct. Caesar, as the leader of the ape army follows the errant humans to their territory and threatens them with numbers if they do not remain on their side. The people are desperate and have to convince the apes, and are only allowed into the forest on condition that they go in unarmed. Here the director sends the message that the tables have turned and the apes are calling the shots.
Various characters have also been developed as the specimens for social analysis. Humans and personified apes represent the diverse strata in the society with arising interactions being inspired by individual or mutually held interests. Although humans and the apes do not get along, Caesar as a leader knows when to put up with the insistence by humans and allows them into the woods in hope that they would return to their territory and stop being a bother ( Dawn of the Planet of Apes, 2014). The humans, on the other hand, have no other interest apart from fixing electric power. The intelligence enhancement in the apes makes room for understanding whereby the two opposing sides bury the hatchet for the purpose of temporary coexistence. In this light, the director has informed the viewer that for the global societies to coexist there has to be an understanding of the needs of every individual.
Not all human characters are inhuman towards the apes, a factor that contributes to the recurrent stalemates. Although Caesar grew up amongst humans and is a product of their scientific shenanigans, he is aware that some humans are ‘human’ and is willing to give them a chance to enter his territory. In Dawn of the Planet of Apes, the man-ape reunion improves when the humans teach their hosts human knowledge. Malcolm’s wife, especially, rekindles the ape’s hope in bearable humanity when she treats the wife of Caesar. In line with the exploration of human nature, the fruitful interactions compel the viewer to make provisions for even the most inappropriate intrusions in hope that it is for some concealed positive development. It is a reminder to the societies that no one can survive alone and one good turn deserves another.
In the making of characters, the director has been keen not to end up with stereotypes that may make the story more predictable and less engaging. Dreyfus, for example, takes the time that Malcolm is fixing the power to furnish the people with arms from an armory in Fort Point ( Dawn of the Planet of Apes, 2014). The discovery by one of the apes badly severs the trust that was developing considering that Caesar had ordered them all to put down their arms. Humans are, therefore, depicted as terrible schemers who are only after their desires and would do all in their power to succeed. Dreyfus has also been characterized as unfeeling because his act of arming the people jeopardizes the team in the woods.
It is not just in the human society where people find themselves in conflicting situations as is evident in the confrontation between Koba and Caesar ( Dawn of the Planet of Apes, 2014). Koba is more suspicious of humans because he underwent a treatment that was different from Caesar’s as a subject or experiment. His discovery of the people at the armory triggers his fury over Caesar’s decision to trust humans. The accusations on Caesar as a human sympathizer present the individualistic nature people living in the modern world where people are stratified by color, religion, or geographical location. Caesar’s attack on Koba highlights the internal conflicts between the apes reminding the viewer that social conflict will always plague the human society both internally and externally.
Koba as a character is a villain given his betrayal of the leader of apes. The director casts him to represent the individuals who enter a given bandwagon with specific individual interests. For Koba, it is the grudge against the humans and will do anything to ensure that he gets his revenge ( Dawn of the Planet of Apes, 2014). After Caesar showing a bipartisan approach to the arising situations, Koba kills three humans in the woods, burns down the apes’ home and shoots Caesar. He then takes command of the army of apes and blames humans for killing Cesar. Through deceit, he is able to mobilize the apes to attack and imprison humans thereby earning his revenge. His cruel and corrupt nature is highlighted when he kills a fellow ape for defying an order to kill humans haphazardly. The director brings in the villain character as a representative of leaders who wage war for selfish gains and are prepared to kill their own for trying to be sensible.
There is an incidence of dramatic irony when Malcolm visits the area under ape siege to look for medical supplies that would help save Caesar’s life. He encounters Blue Eyes, Caesar’s son, who was convinced that the humans killed his father ( Dawn of the Planet of Apes, 2014). The climactic scene puts the viewer on edge because Koba’s deceit had convinced the apes. Luckily though, Blue Eyes is as cautious as his father and returns with Malcolm to San Francisco. The dramatic irony where the viewer is aware of the reality as opposed to some characters’ misconception is the director’s way of informing the viewers that they should never act in haste only to regret the irreversible results.
The coexistence of good and evil, irrespective of the force behind the two opposites is another feature that the director has perpetuated in his films to inform the viewers that there will always be an enemy from within. In The War for the Planet of the Apes, the villain apes who survived Koba are now fighting with the humans against fellow apes. This reveals that although the human population is still decreasing, there is still the threat of conflict amongst the apes themselves. Referred to as ‘donkeys’ characters such as Red and Winter are the representatives of misguided individuals who act in haste or fear at the expense of the larger community.
There is still hope, all the same, as the wayward apes choose the side of their type and turn spy on Colonel ( War for the Planet of the Apes, 2017). Winter, for example, informs Caesar the direction that Colonel has taken even after he had turned to the enemy. Caesar also convinces the Bad Ape to show him the directions even though the latter always lived in solitude and operated alone. This characterization confirms that the director is aware of the tendency of individuals or groups with shared socio-cultural traditions coming together for the common good. It is for the same reason that Red turns against the Colonel army to kill Preacher and save Caesar. By creating such volatile characters, the director weans the viewers to strive in hope that certain misguided individuals will conceive the reality as it should be and save the situation when least expected.
The ending of The War for the Planet of the Apes presents the apes surviving the avalanche with a single human after the remaining soldiers are killed in the explosion. It is inferred that Nova, the mute survivor, is among the lucky few who have were not killed by the virus. By befriending Maurice the orangutan, more so, she was on the safe side when the human population was being wiped out. The director has perpetuated this character as the last remaining hope for humanity. However, a critical viewer will note that there is no one to mate with her because the apes are the only primates around her. The message encoded by the director, then, is that Nova may have to breed with apes to perpetuate her kind. It is also an insistence by the director that the extinction of mankind is inevitable especially when it is considered that the girl is mute. In this light, if there were to be offspring, speech and intelligence would be inherited from the apes. The ensuing generation will therefore be more ape-like than human. All in all, the storyline has assured the viewer that there are apes that are more human than the people whereas it is common for people to be inhuman. The coexistence of good and evil, however, is an inevitability that cannot be tied to one premise.
References
Reeves, M. (dir.) (2014). Dawn of the Planet of Apes. USA: TSG Entertainment
Reeves, M. (dir.) (2017). War for the Planet of the Apes. USA: TSG Entertainment
Wyatt, R. (dir.) (2012). Rise of the Planet of the Apes. USA: TSG Entertainment
