Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the kind of movie that reminds me why I love movies in the first place -- and more specifically, why I love sci-fi movies. Smart, emotionally deep, exciting, beautiful to behold, and culturally relevant, Dawn is quite simply a great film.

While I enjoyed Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the first film in this -- for lack of a better term -- rebooted series, my issues with it pertained mostly to the sometimes idiotic human characters and wobbly screenplay, which tended towards easy Hollywood-storytelling outs and tone-deaf “homages” to the original 1960s-1970s films. Thankfully, incoming director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) rarely, if ever, makes such missteps with Dawn, but rather solidifies the strong foundation of the first film and improves on everything else in a hugely gratifying way.Andy Serkis is now rightfully front and center as Caesar, the leader of the small group of apes who were granted intelligence, language, and eventually their freedom in the previous movie. A decade has passed since then, and as was predicted at the end of Rise, human civilization has fallen in the wake of the Simian Flu -- fittingly enough, the same virus that enabled Caesar’s kind to rise. (Reeves depicts the end of the world as we know it in a chilling opening credits montage that ties events closely to the real world.)While mankind has suffered and mostly died off over the past 10 years, the apes have flourished. In the forests north of San Francisco, an ape city of a kind has taken root, carved into the lush woods and waterfalls of the landscape. Caesar’s people, who now communicate through a mix of limited speech, signing, and body language -- and by the way, it’s impressive just how much Reeves uses subtitles in what is, after all, a summer tent pole picture -- have established a virtual paradise here, living off the land, hunting, and growing their tribe. The ape children attend school, where Maurice, the orangutan from Rise and Caesar’s trusted adviser, teaches lessons such as “Ape will not kill ape.” Of course this is a notion that will have great significance as the film progresses.This paradise is threatened, however, when a ragtag group of humans arrive on the scene. They represent a small pocket of survivors who were immune to the Simian Flu, and this particular group, led by Gary Oldman’s Dreyfus and Jason Clarke’s Malcolm, are out of options. They need Caesar’s help, or at least his permission, to access an old dam that will restore power to San Francisco… or what’s left of it, anyway.What’s immediately compelling is the way in which Caesar responds to the humans, who he sees as desperate and perhaps even pitiful. Much has been said about Serkis’ mastery of performance capture over the years, which of course combines with the amazing visual effects of Weta to create the apes, but I’ll be damned if I’ve seen a deeper, more nuanced performance this year than what Serkis does in this film. His Caesar is older and wiser from when we last saw him, and he bears the weight of the world on his shoulders. With every sigh, every flicker of his eyes, every movement, you can feel the responsibilities that he is wrestling with, regarding not just leading his fellow apes but also taking care of his family and guiding his elder son into adulthood.The dynamic between Caesar and Clarke’s Malcolm is another strong through line. The two obviously have much in common, as Malcolm is also trying to protect his family (a son, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and a mate, Keri Russell) and his people. It’s an uneasy truce that’s made between the two, but it comes from a shared understanding that they’re both working for the same thing -- for family, for community, for the future.Reeves also smartly brings back several of Caesar’s ape compatriots from the previous film, characters who might’ve just been replaced here by another filmmaker. But by not just keeping characters like Koba (Toby Kebbell), Maurice (Karin Konoval), and Rocket (Terry Notary), but also greatly increasing their roles (for the most part -- sorry, Rocket), Reeves and his writers bring a sense of continuity to Caesar’s larger story. In fact, while Fox and the producers of the rebooted series obviously felt the need to anchor Rise with a (human) movie star in James Franco, it’s clearer than ever in Dawn’s apes-only scenes that this franchise doesn’t even need human characters at this point. (And yes, Franco’s Will Rodman is acknowledged here in a subtle but touching way.)Speaking of Caesar’s buds, Dawn has now given us one of the most memorable and awesome characters in the series: the scarred and troubled Koba. While played by stunt performer Christopher Gordon in the first film, Reeves recast the role with actor Toby Kebbell. And it’s now clear why this was done, as Koba is a key player in the events of Dawn, and Kebbell -- dare I say it -- gives Serkis a run for his money in the performance-capture pantheon of acting. Koba has pledged himself to Caesar ever since he freed him from the experimental laboratories of the first film, where the ape was operated on hundreds of times by human scientists. His hate for man is strong, but really, one thinks as he shows Caesar the many scars on his body and face that he suffered from human mistreatment, can you blame him?The relationship between Caesar and Koba is just one of the many remarkable, textured character interplays of Dawn. Koba is given to outbursts as he questions Caesar’s approach to the humans (the human problem?), but when Caesar rebukes his old ally, Koba begs for forgiveness with an extended hand and a posture of supplication. Caesar embraces his friend’s hand with sympathy, accepting his apology as he understands the complexity of the situation and Koba’s misgivings. It’s a strong moment, but it becomes so much more as it’s repeated a couple of more times throughout the film, with each slight variation on the same interaction informing us greatly about how the relationship between the two is changing.(It should also be noted that a key moment from the climax of Rise involving Caesar and Koba can be reflected on in this film in that it further deepens the decisions that each makes in Dawn.)Again, while the ape actors are superb, including a string of lesser known performers including Konoval and Nick Thurston (who plays Caesar’s son Blue Eyes), we can’t overlook what Weta has done here. This movie is full of apes, and they’re very often in exterior locations or engaged in battles or riding horses -- all technically complex, next-level stuff. Oh, and the apes on horses? There are certain unforgettable shots on this front that make that very concept -- originated in the 1968 film -- as cool and thrilling as it must’ve seemed 46 years ago.Reeves also utilizes the Weta magic to create some truly beautiful images. Much of this stuff gets into spoiler territory, but even something as simple as two apes fishing on a riverbank can transcend itself when all of the right elements are in place, as they are here.As for the human cast, unfortunately actors like Oldman and Russell are perhaps underserved amid the many moving pieces of this movie -- especially Oldman, who sort of disappears for a chunk of the film. But even then, they each get key moments and emotional beats that play as honest and true. And Smit-McPhee, who also starred in the director’s Let Me In, is well served as we learn that there are still aspiring comic-book artists even on the Planet of the Apes! Plus, this enables Charles Burns' Black Hole to make an appearance, which is almost too good to be true.Reeves lets his allusions and references flow naturally and organically here, so if Smit-McPhee’s character happens to be into Black Hole -- a graphic novel about outcasts and the terrors of adolescence -- then even better that those themes track with some of Dawn’s own ideas. But the director is careful to avoid grating call-backs to the old film series; there are no gimmicks here, only occasional, very subtle bits, like tinges of Goldsmith-ian familiarity in Michael Giacchino’s wonderful score… and an ending that is Planet of the Apes through and through.Ultimately, the great Planet of the Apes movies (and there are several) all share one very important element: a willingness to examine and contemplate the issues facing the real world. And Dawn certainly falls into this category. While the always-relevant notions of family, friendship, and the responsibility to protect both run deep in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, there is much more here as well for those who are willing to look. The death penalty, isolationism, fundamentalism… these are all concepts that are pondered by this film.Dawn of the Planet of the Apes does what the best of Hollywood genre movies can do -- it’s exciting, thrilling, and visually breathtaking. But it’s so much more than that as well. This is the kind of movie that we all deserve. One that challenges us and moves us in an enormously entertaining way. And the best part is Reeves and Serkis will be back for the next installment as well.