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www.groovekorea.com / July 2014 82 preview by Dean Crawford at tHe box office tHe big screen Edited by Jenny Na (jenny@groovekorea.com) MuSIC & ARTS July I know I say this a lot, but I firmly believe that “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (2011) was one of the best and most unanticipated surprises in recent memory. Having walked in with rock-bottom expectations, imagine my genuine shock when I actually ended up caring about the welfare of a CGI monkey. I nearly shed a tear watching James Franco leave Caesar in monkey jail, leaving him to fol- low the archetypal path of someone who goes into prison “innocent,” learns what they have to do to survive and departs a criminal ring lead- er. The film was basically Jacques Audiard’s fantastic prison drama “A Prophet” (2009), but staged with primates. Another reason I felt the film was so well executed was the clear vision of the story it wanted to tell. I attribute this to exiting director Rupert Wyatt, who is being replaced by Matt Reeves, director of “Cloverfield” (2008) and “Let Me In” (2010). So what story are they go- ing to tell this time? “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is a sequel to “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (a prequel to the original 1968 “Planet of the Apes,” which itself had three sequels, excluding the 2001 Tim Burton reboot that wasn’t a sequel — try explaining that after a few bottles of soju!). “Dawn” is set 10 years after the events in San Francisco that saw Caesar and his newfound band of apes rise up and escape to freedom in the forest. In doing so, however, a deadly virus was released that wiped out half of the Earth’s population. The remaining humans are fighting for their lives to coexist with the apes as a battle for power ensues. Those left are led by Dreyfus, played by Gary Oldman, while Andy Serkis once again brings life to ape lead- er Caesar. Starring two quality actors who will no doubt deliver top performances, here’s hoping the new boy on the block, Reeves, is up to the challenge. 17 Action / Drama / Sci-f u.S. Dawn of the planet of the Apes Directed by Matt Reeves With the Internet seemingly focused on the furor surrounding Edgar Wright’s departure from “Ant-Man” (2015), one could be forgiven for forgetting that Marvel actually has a movie coming out this month. But with the confirma- tion that Payton Reed has taken Wright’s place, Marvel can now firmly focus on the release of its newest, and arguably riskiest, title yet: “Guardians of the Galaxy,” directed by James Gunn. The movie follows Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), a.k.a. Star-Lord, and his group of fellow out- laws Drax (Dave Bautista), Gamora (Zoe Sal- dana), Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) – who together are otherwise known as the Guardians of the Galaxy. After Quill steals a mysterious orb, he finds that the fate of the world is in his hands, which sees him at the center of an intergalactic manhunt led by the evil Ronan (Lee Pace). If the rumors are to be believed, Wright’s departure from “Ant-Man” was due to the fact that Marvel was worried his signature style would veer too far from the rest of the Marvel cinematic universe. So Disney requested sev- eral script rewrites and gave notes that Wright and his cowriter Joe Cornish were simply not prepared to adhere to. To say these demands came as somewhat of a surprise would be an understatement, not only because Wright had been attached to the project for over eight years, but because “Ant-Man” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” both seem like similar entities. Yet “Guardians” appears to have been made without any problems whatsoever. They both feature lesser-known characters and they both seem to have a great deal of comedy in them. The “Guardians” trailer has several gags and it, too, seems like a shift in tone from Marvel’s oeuvre, so why the sudden panic from Disney regarding “Ant-Man”? Here’s hoping “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a success, and will be a timely reminder to studi- os that allowing the director to have some sort of vision is what we, the film-goers, actually want -– not mindless explosion-fests devoid of all personality. 31 Action / Adventure / Sci-f u.S. Guardians of the Galaxy Directed by James Gunn GrooveCast GrooveCast host Chance Dorland and columnist Dean Crawford talk movies. Check out the podcast at groovekorea.com. July
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