‘Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Has A Gun Control Agenda?

When Rise of The Planet of The Apes hit the theaters, moviegoers were surprised to see that the action filled movie actually had an important message about animal testing. The film largely focused on animals in captivity and those that are currently being tested in different medical labs.

Now the sequel Dawn of The Planet of The Apes has gone after a very big issue that has struck a chord with many people and that’s gun control. Some critics have already picked up on this and think that the Apes sequel has a gun-control agenda.

According to the New York Daily News, some conservatives think the fact that apes acquiring guns for a revolt sends the wrong message about guns and what they’re primarily used for.

To combat the use of guns and the evil that is caused by these weapons, the head chimp in charge, Caesar (Andy Serkis) stands up to his fellow apes by protesting the use of guns when they’re introduced by the dozens. Of course, the chimps don’t listen to Caesar, and so, chaos ensues with apes wielding guns.

A critic from Variety caught this right away and said, “You’d have to be pretty obtuse to miss the pro-gun-control subtext attached to misdeeds on both sides of the man-monkey battle.”

This thought made conservatives take notice of the theme in Dawn of The Planet of The Apes. Mark Bombeck, the writer of the film, denied that a gun-control agenda was intentional.

Bombeck told the New York Daily News about the claim:

“If we were just going to try and Trojan-horse a gun-control message in the film, that would be a pretty narrow approach.” Bomback pointed out, “This film takes place in a postapocalypse in which there’s a different meaning behind guns. When an ape uses one in ‘Dawn,’ it’s the moment we see how ape society will ultimately evolve (in the ‘Planet of the Apes’ world) into a militaristic version of human society. The gun symbolizes human technology dedicated to violence.”

Despite the argument about what the ape movie is and isn’t about, critics are really digging the film so far. As we previously reported, The Wall Street Journal notes that Dawn of The Planet of The Apes is a comment on our strange fascination with our own destruction.

“We seem to be fascinated with our own destruction. It allows us to find a way to explore some of our collective fear in a way that makes it entertainment, and it makes the unthinkable fathomable, which makes it kind of thrilling.”

Dawn of The Planet of The Apes hits theaters on July 11.