Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

This movie doesn't monkey around. It will make you ooh-ooh and aah-aah. I went bananas.

All puns aside, the second installment of the new "Apes" trilogy is one of the best films of the year.

Set ten years after its predecessor in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, the movie focuses on the flourishing ape colony led by Caesar and its interaction with the human survivors nearby. Shakespearian in nature, the film has an engrossing plot and stunning visual effects.

Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood Reporter remarked that the film "manages to do at least three things exceptionally well that are hard enough to pull off individually: Maintain a simmering level of tension without let-up for two hours, seriously improve on a very good first entry in a franchise and produce a powerful humanistic statement using a significantly simian cast of characters."

Leigh Paatsch of Australia's Herald Sun stated, "Whether you attend this movie as a deep thinker or a thrill seeker, Dawn Of the Planet Of the Apes is going to deliver everything you want."

Todd and Leigh are right; with a tense, thoughtful plot and brutal ape action, "Dawn" is better than "Rise" in almost every department. There's more action, more drama, and the apes even look better.

This was a fantastic movie and I'm excited to see what's in store for the apes.