I hadn't been to a movie theater in a long time. With a 70" LED TV, a good sound system, NetFlix and 800 channels I rarely have trouble finding something to watch without having to drive somewhere to sit with a bunch of other people. With the the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes movie opening, I got the idea on a whim to skip happy hour and go to the 5pm showing at the Regal over by Cypress Creek road.
I know myself well, and I knew that if I didn't buy a ticket in advance I wouldn't go. At 4pm I'd just say that I didn't feel like going and it would be off. So I bought a ticket online. As it turns out it was a mistake, particularly for a 5pm showing.
I'd gotten a tip from a pre-review not to pay extra for 3D, so I went for a standard ticket @ $11.
$1.25 service charge? Seems excessive. I guess it's worth it to not have to wait on line.
I'm rarely on the road at 4:15pm, and I really didn't anticipate the traffic on Broward Blvd. Holy crow, what a disaster. I thought I'd try Sunrise instead, but it was no better. It took me 1/2 hour to get to 95, which is about 2 miles. Once I got on 95 North it was clear sailing.
At 4:45 there wasn't a soul in site. No line for tickets and no line for food. Seriously, there were zero people. I got to the concession and I was surprised at how bad the choices where. Just Soda and Hi-C; what is this, 1990? Fast food at 3x the price. I got a small popcorn and a medium root beer which cost over $11. They have a single entrance to a the "auditoriums", so its one of those deals where you could go to any one of them. There were no ushers checking tickets so you could probably go to another movie once yours is over, unless they do something different in the evening.
I got to my seat at about 4:55. I was surprised at how ordinary the theatre was; same as they were 20 years ago.
Previews
The first order of annoyance was the previews. When I was a kid, they used to show cartoons before the movies, which is fun when you're a kid. 20 years ago they started showing a couple of previews, which was usually interesting. But now it's just ridiculous. 15 minutes of previews. One bad trailer after another. What was concerning is that they were very bad quality. Blurry. I'm used to sitting 8 feet from a 70" HD TV, could movies be this bad? If so, why is anyone going to the movies?
Movie: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
I'm not going to review the movie, but I will make some observations. First, the quality of the movie was much better than the previews. Still not HD quality; very dull. And it was LOUD. I mean really, almost uncomfortably loud. If I played anything that loud in the condo I'd have my neighbor banging on the ceiling with a broom.
If you're not familiar with the Planet of the Apes series, you won't get a lot of the references and subtleties of the movie. The original movie featured Charlton Heston as an astronaut who falls into a time warp and lands on Earth in the future, which of course he doesn't learn until the end. Makeup has improved leaps and bounds in 40 years; the original "apes" were in ape suits. The movie ends with a classic scene, where Heston weeps as he realizes that he's back on Earth when he sees the remains of the statue of liberty on the beach.
The scene sets up the 2nd movie in the series, "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", which is staged in a decaying New York City subway. After that they had some bad sequels that I never wanted to see; they clearly lost their way.
In 2011, the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was released, which was the first movie in a series that will show how the Earth devolved into a barren land of talking apes. The Rise movie is set in current times, where researchers who are doing drug testing on Chimps accidentally discover a "formula" that substantially increases the intelligence of simians. Cesar, the test chimp, subsequently frees all of the other caged test animals and sprays them with the substance, and they ride off over the Golden Gate bridge to live free in the woods.
The 'Dawn' movie begins many years later, after a "Simian Virus" has wiped out most of the world's population. Only those with natural immunities are left. The Apes believe that all humans are gone as they hadn't seen one in 10 years. But the existing humans are running out of fuel, and they need power. So they head into the woods to try to revive a hydro-power plant, and they encounter the apes, many of whom can now speak.
The apes don't speak very well yet, so there are a lot of subtitles.
The movie parodies Mankind's self-destructive behaviors. There's a power struggle between a pacifist and a war-monger, and even a false flag event that sparks a war between the Apes and the Humans. The movie is very well done; lot's of action, and when you come to terms with the fact that the apes are men in crazy makeup, the acting is outstanding.
Not all of the apes are men in makeup however.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie but was disappointed by the overall experience. The popcorn was good, but next time I'll wait a couple of months and rent it on AppleTV for $6. $22 seems a bit much to see a movie.
If you're considering seeing it, I highly recommend that you watch "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" first, as it will give you good insight as to what's going on. Better yet, wait for them to get on NetFlix and watch them both at once.
