Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

In 2011, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" rose from among the endless sea of reboots and retreads to deliver a fresh take on the source material and became one of our favorite films of that year.  Does this sequel live up to the lofty standard set by its predecessor?  Yes!  So much yes!  "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" gives us yet another fascinating look into the story of Caesar and his role as the leader of a highly intelligent group of apes, this time after disease has obliterated the majority of the world's human population.  Andy Serkis is incredible again in the lead role, turning in another spell-binding motion-capture performance and should yet again receive Oscar buzz for his ground-breaking work.  The story takes some refreshingly unexpected turns and asks some pretty profound questions about tolerance and leadership, all with some of the most impressive CGI ever created.  This is one of the finest films of the year.

Bryce ***1/2
Chase ***1/2
Landon ***1/2
Logan ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***1/2

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Hiccup and Toothless are back in this sequel to the spectacular "How to Train Your Dragon."  While not quite as good or fresh, it retains almost every element that made the original so good.  The protagonists are still as great as ever, the animation is jaw-dropping and there are some legitimately emotional moments.  However, this follow-up suffers from some of the same problems that the other Dreamworks sequels have had in the past.  The filmmakers tend to work harder for laughs by overworking the same jokes that aren't very funny in the first place.  If you get past that, you'll find a worthy sequel that's highly entertaining and fairly engrossing.

Bryce **1/2
Chase ***1/2
Landon ***
Logan ***

BANGERANG SCORE: ***