1) I get to watch my favourite series Devious Maids while ironing and wondering if all maids in the states look THAT hot;
2) I get to go back to sleep after preparing breakfast for my baby man;
3) Time is in my hands and I get to change my task to another once I get bored with the current one;
4) I do not have to deal with FAKE, PRETENTIOUS and BACK-STABBING assistants or pull my hair out over unrealistic KPI targets anymore;
5) I can finally have a fitness routine;
6) I can take care of domestic matters on full-time basis.
The downside of being one, on the other hand, is that
1) The savings in my bank account keeps decreasing;
2) There is no income coming in;
3) Life becomes a routine, whereby the most exciting things in a day is planning meals and cooking them.
With thanks to my friend Sumith, I get to break that routine on 30th July 2014 - we decided to meet at the theatre closest to us and catch 'Dawn of The Planet of The Apes'.
The synopsis extracted from Shaw cinemas' website is as appended:
A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.
To be honest, the trailer and the synopsis have proven to be somewhat misleading.
For those who have watched the movie, I can understand that turnkey event which led to the war should not be shown in the trailer or mentioned in the synopsis. Nonetheless, I believe most can agree that the both sounded and looked more exciting than the movie itself.
A few aspects which I found lacking from the movie are:
1) The first part started with all the news broadcasts of the virus and humans being wiped out - very Quarantine-like. But it seemed that the rest of the movie does not connect very well with that point;
2) The producer tried to portray that humans and apes can still possibly connect even at that situation but I feel that the connections are rather weak and abrupt and seemed to be 'forcefully' made to happen. In fact, I find the video clip showing the interaction between Caesar and Will in the camcorder, which Caesar turned on, more real and powerful than any other connection in this second instalment;
3)The title states DAWN of the planet of the apes...but...where is the dawn? It is true that the apes took over for a brief number of days but that does not suffice for the word 'dawn'. And the ending shows a possible war starting between humans and apes, but that is not exactly 'dawn' either. The movie does not seem to bring out the essence of the title.
Having said that, I am not at all disappointed by the show. Some elements and messages from the show still stand out strongly, making it a great cinematic experience nevertheless - the special effects brought the apes to life, so much so that I actually commented to Sumith that no kid should be brought to this show or else all zoological gardens around the world would have to remove all their ape enclaves; and the lines which Caesar last said still haunts me and gets me thinking till now.
Caesar said 'Apes started the war; Humans won't forgive'. Is this why wars still exist in a civilisation like today's? Is that why guns and ammunition were prepared though Malcolm said to give him time? Is that even why guns exist today?
One thing which I would like to applaud the producer is for bringing out a clear message that humans tried using guns to solve problems but in the end it backfired (yes, I am punning) and right till the end, it still wasn't guns which resolved that war.
