Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (4 Stars)

I went to see this film today as Cineworld's "Secret Screening". This is an event that happens a few times a year, in which a film is shown before its release date, but the customers aren't told what it is. I was rather surprised that this film was selected today. In the past the Secret Screening always featured films several months ahead of their release date, but this film is due to be released next week.

I went to see the film with six other members of the Birmingham Film Club. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to sit together. Cineworld has recently introduced allocated seating, despite the complaints of its customers. For the Secret Screening the seats can only be booked online in advance. The seven of us were given seats at random in different parts of the cinema. The allocated seating was introduced last month and has already shown itself to be a failure, but Cineworld's central management has no interest in listening to what its customers have to say. It was reported in the press that Cineworld's ticket sales have decreased in the last four weeks. The management blames it on the World Cup, but the real reason is that their customers are now going to cinemas which don't have allocated seating. In big cities like Birmingham there is plenty of choice.

I shan't say anything the film's plot, since it still hasn't been officially released in England. All I'll say is that I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I'm a fan of the original "Planet of the Apes" pentalogy, especially the first two films. The third film was unnecessary, but it worked. The last two films let the franchise down. Tim Burton's remake in 2001 was visually interesting, but disappointing as far as the content was concerned. I didn't bother watching "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", because I mistakenly thought it tied in with the Tim Burton film. I only discovered today that it was a reboot. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is the second film in the rebooted series.

It's worth watching. And I'll check out "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" soon.