MOVIES · STORY NOTES

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a 2014 American science fiction action film directed by Matt Reeves and written by Mark Bomback and the writing team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. The film takes place in 2026, ten years after the events of Rise and follows a group of human survivors as they battle to stay alive in the wake of a deadly pandemic, while Caesar tries to maintain control over his expanding ape community.

Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes · CC BY-SA 4.0. Text adapted for this entry.

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The story, including the ending.

These write-ups discuss major events and outcomes for this listed work. Each source and its coverage are identified below.

Source plot synopsis — includes the ending

Ten years after a "Simian Flu" pandemic, humans are nearly extinct, with only about 1 in 500 (0.2%) genetically immune. Human civilization was destroyed after societal collapse. The apes, all bestowed with genetically enhanced intelligence by the virus, establish a colony in the Muir Woods National Monument, led by Caesar, along with his lieutenants Maurice, Rocket and Koba.
A group of humans, led by Malcolm, unknowingly enters the apes' territory while searching for a hydroelectric dam to restore power to their community in San Francisco's ruins. Carver, a member of Malcolm's group, injures Ash, Rocket's son, in fear. Malcolm manages to prevent further escalation, and Caesar orders the humans to leave. Prompted by Koba, Caesar brings his army to the human community to show strength. Caesar announces that, while the apes do not want war, they will fight to defend themselves; he demands the humans stay in their territory. Malcolm convinces Dreyfus, the community's leader, to let him take a small team into the forest to negotiate with the apes and access the dam. Eventually, Caesar lets them work on the generator, on the condition that they surrender their guns. As they work together, Malcolm, his nurse wife, Ellie, and his son, Alexander, bond with the apes. The truce briefly falls apart when Carver is discovered to have kept a hidden shotgun and is thus forcibly sent away, but trust is restored when Ellie saves Cornelia, Caesar's ill wife.
Presuming that the apes may attack, Dreyfus arms the community with the munitions at the Fort Point armory. Koba, who has a vendetta on humans for torturing him in laboratories, discovers the armory and confronts Caesar, accusing him of caring more about humans than apes. Caesar beats Koba in response but refrains from killing him. Koba kills two guards in the armory to steal a rifle and returns home. He secretly kills Carver after the humans repair the generator. Koba uses their celebration to covertly set fire and shoot Caesar, who falls into the underbrush. Koba frames the humans for Caesar's apparent death and the fire to justify war. Taking command, he leads the ape army to San Francisco, where they plunder the armory and mount a full-scale assault on the humans. Despite taking heavy casualties, the apes breach the building and imprison the humans as Dreyfus flees. Koba kills Ash for refusing to kill humans and imprisons all other apes loyal to Caesar, including Rocket, Maurice, and Luca.
Malcolm's family finds a severely wounded Caesar and transports him to his former home in San Francisco. After sneaking back into the settlement for medical supplies, Malcolm encounters Blue Eyes, Caesar's young son, who accompanies him to Caesar after learning his father is alive. After learning that Koba shot Caesar, Blue Eyes reconciles with his father, who admits Koba's actions showed him how apes can be as violent as humans. The trio returns to the community and frees the imprisoned humans and apes. After escorting the apes into the tower, Malcolm finds Dreyfus, who has rigged the tower base with explosives, and reveals that his men contacted a military base. Malcolm holds Dreyfus at gunpoint to give Caesar enough time to retake command by confronting Koba at the top of the tower. In an attempt to kill the apes, Dreyfus detonates explosives to destabilize the building, dying in the process. Caesar defeats Koba and lets him fall to his death, declaring him no longer an ape for his sins.
Malcolm warns Caesar that the human military is coming. Believing that the humans will never forgive the apes for their attack, Caesar tells Malcolm to leave with his family for safety before the fighting begins. He then addresses the apes as they prepare for the war to come.
Sources and content license

Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license