Two years ago, the world saw “The Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” and next year we’ll be treated to the “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” But when we catch back up with Caesar, now in a position of power in the world, will he still be the one we’re rooting for?
“It is a really good question,” Andy Serkis — Caesar himself — told Josh Horowitz when the cast of “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” stopped by MTV Comic-Con Live before their Hall H panel.
Serkis, however, deferred to director Matt Reeves, who said that that’s the question at the heart of the next trip to the planet of the apes. “The answer is that it’s meant to be a complex situation,” he said. “The thing that got me about the first movie was exactly what you’re saying. You literally become Caesar because of Andy and what it did and because of Rupert. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful story.”
Reeves said that because the story and character of Caesar was so compelling in “Rise,” it would be difficult to abandon him as a protagonist, even after his ascension to power. “We just felt that in going forward, the idea that you would continue to see the world through [Caesar’s] eyes and then suddenly discover that the humans are still out there, because as the story starts you’re in the world of the apes. You think the humans aren’t even there,” he said. “Then suddenly we realized, ‘Wait a minute. There’s a population of humans here as well. Can they co-exist?’ “
In the end, there is more than one answer to “Who do we root for?” “To understands each ape’s point of view, to understand the human’s point of view in a complex situation and try to understand how they came to maybe some decisions that you wouldn’t respect, except when you understand where they’re coming from, you understand why they feel that way,” Reeves said. “You’re meant to, in a way, understand at least — if not root for — everyone.”
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