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Matt Reeves’ Sci-Fi Epic Is a Masterpiece From Start to Finish

Sarah Parker May 14, 2026

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In the four years since Matt Reeves revealed the Batman that everyone deserved, the hunger for the World’s Greatest Detective has only increased. Batman Part II is finally on the docket after a deafening silence, but there is still some time before fans will see what the director has up his sleeve. Until then, Reeves has a wide range of films to explore, some of which are extremely underrated.

In 2014, the director took over the Planet of the Apes franchise with <em>Dawn of the Planet of the Apes</em>. The film follows the James Franco-led Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which was a humble start to a definitive trilogy. Reeves expanded on the original concept of a virus wiping out humanity and created a story that defied all expectations.

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ Is a True Dystopian Film

Matt Reeves began his Planet of the Apes tenure with an inventive new approach to the material. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes place a decade after the events of the first film, where the Simian Flu has wiped out nearly all of humanity. The virus also elevated the intelligence of the apes, which allows them to be the dominant species.

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<Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz
<WhichSci-Fi WorldWould You Survive?
<The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars

<Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.

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Mad Max

Blade Runner

Dune

Star Wars

<TEST YOUR SURVIVAL →

<You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do?
<The first instinct is often the truest one.

<APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it.
<BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don’t keep you alive.
<CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who’s pulling the strings.
<DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it.
<EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can’t fix a broken galaxy alone.

NEXT QUESTION →

<In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely?
<What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.

<AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don’t need resources — you can generate them.
<BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it.
<CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity.
<DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on.
<EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely.

NEXT QUESTION →

>
<<What kind of threat keeps you up at night?>
<<Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.>

>
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<<AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant.>
<<BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left.>
<<CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you’re a problem, you’re already out of time.>
<<DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn’t even know I was playing.>
<<EThe Empire tightening its grip until there’s nowhere left to run.>

>
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NEXT QUESTION →

>
<<How do you deal with authority you don’t trust?>
<<Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.>

>
<<

>
<<ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it.>
<<BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better.>
<<CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy.>
<<DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can’t beat a system you refuse to understand.>
<<EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen.>

>
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NEXT QUESTION →

>
<<Which environment could you actually endure long-term?>
<<Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.>

>
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>
<<AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters.>
<<BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest.>
<<CA dense rain-soaked city where you can disappear into crowd and nobody asks questions.>
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<<“Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart?”<>
<<“The company you keep is clearest signal who actually are.”<>

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<<“Where do you draw line if draw one at all?”<>
<<“Every survivor eventually faces moment tests they’re actually made.”<>

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<<“What would actually make survival worth it?”<>
<<“Staying alive is one thing having reason another.”<>

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>>> Label ClAss cg Option Btn CopT FoR CQQ E Freedom myself others every world still living under someone else’s boot./ Label>>
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>>> P >< Label ClAss cg Btn Next FoR CJ-R REVEAL MY WORLD →>

>>> SECTION ClAss cg Slide CQS LR”>
>>> DIV ClAss cg Result Reveal>
>>> SPAN ClAss cg Result Label>Your Fate Has Been Calculated
>>> SPAN ClAss cg Result Title>You’d Survive In…
>>> P ClAss cg Result Intro Text>Your answers point to world your instincts were built for. This is universe your temperament your survival instincts and your particular brand stubbornness were made for.
>>> DIV ClAss cg Result Cards>

>>> DIV ClAss cg Result Card cg Res-Matrix style border-left-color:#00FF41;”>
>>> P>
>>> SPAN ClAss cg Badge style background:#00FF41;/>
>>> SPAN ClAss cg Result Card Banner Text style color:#00FF41;”>The Resistance Zion
>>> P>
>>> DIV ClAss cg Result Card Inner>
>>> SPAN ClAss cg Result Card Title style background:linear-gradient(135deg,#fff 40%,#00FF41);-webkit-background-clipping:text;-webkit-text-fill-color:transparent;background-clipping:text;”>The Matrix
>>> P ClAss cg Result Card Text>You took red pill long time ago probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re systems thinker who can’t help but notice seams in things.
>>> UL ClAss cg Result Bullets>
>>> LI>You’re drawn understanding how system works before figuring out how break it.
>>> LI>You’d find Resistance or would find your instinct spotting constructed realities machines’ worst nightmare.
>>> LI>You function best when have access information freedom act on it.
>>> LI>The Matrix built airtight prison you’d be probing walls door.
>>> UL>
>>> DIV>

>>> DIV ClAss cg Result Card cg Res-Madmax style border-left-color:#FF8C00;”>
>>> P>
>>> SPAN ClAss cg Badge style background:#FF8C00;/>
>>> SPAN ClAss cg Result Card Banner Text style color:#FF8C00;”>The Wasteland
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>>> SPAN ClAss cg Result Card Title style background:linear-gradient(135deg,#fff 40%,#FF8C00);-webkit-background-clipping:text;-webkit-text-fill-color:transparent;background-clipping:text;”>Mad Max
>>> P ClAss cg Result Card Text>The wasteland doesn’t reward clever well-connected rewards those who are hard kill harder break that’s you.
>>> UL ClAss cg Result Bullets>
>>> LI>You don’t need comfort community cause larger than next horizon.
>>> LI>You need vehicle clear threat enough fuel outrun it you’re good at all three.
>>> LI>You are unsentimental enough survive that world decent enough just barely something more another raider.
>>> LI>In wasteland that distinction everything.
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>>> DIV>

>>> DIV ClAss cg Result Card cg Res-Bladerunner style border-left-color:#00BFFF;”>
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>>> SPAN ClAss cg Badge style background:#00BFFF;/>
>>> SPAN ClAss cg Result Card Banner Text style color:#00BFFF;”>Los Angeles 2049
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>>> DIV ClAss cg Result Card Inner>
>>> SPAN ClAss cg Result Card Title style background:linear-gradient(135deg,#fff 40%,#00BFFF);-webkit-background-clipping:text;-webkit-text-fill-color:transparent;background-clipping:text;”>Blade Runner
>>> P ClAss cg Result Card Text>You’d survive here because know how exist moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
>>> UL ClAss cg Result Bullets>
>>> LI>You read people accurately keep circle small ask questions others prefer not answer.
>>> LI>In city where humanity legal designation rather than feeling hold onto something keeps functional.
>>> LI>You’re not hero but you’re not lost either.
>>> LI>In Blade Runner’s world that distinction everything.
>>> UL>
>>> DIV>

>>> DIV clASS CG RESULT CARD CG RES-DUNE STYLE BORDER LEFT COLOR:#FFD700;”>
>>> P>
>>> SPAN clASS CG BADGE STYLE BACKGROUND:#FFD700;/>
>>> SPAN clASS CG RESULT CARD BANNER TEXT STYLE COLOR:#FFD700;”>Arrakis
>>> P>
>>> DIV clASS CG RESULT CARD INNER>
>>> SPAN clASS CG RESULT CARD TITLE STYLE BACKGROUND:LINEAR GRADIENT(135deg,#fff 40%,#FFD700);-WEBKIT-BACKGROUND_CLIP:TEXT;-WEBKIT-TEXT-FILL-COLOR:TRANSPARENT;BACKGROUND_CLIP:TEXT;”>Dune
>>> P clASS CG RESULT CARD TEXT ARRACKIS IS MOST HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT KNOWN UNIVERSE AND YOU ARE PRECISELY KIND PERSON IT REWARDS.
>>> UL clASS CG RESULT BULLETS:
***LI*** PATIENCE DISCIPLINE AND POLITICAL AWARENESS ARE YOUR CORE STRENGTHS AND ON ARRACKIS THEY’RE SURVIVAL TOOLS.
***LI*** YOU UNDERSTAND LONG GAME MATTERS MORE THAN ANY SINGLE VICTORY.
***LI*** OTHERS COME DUNE AND CONSUMED BY IT YOU’D LEARN ITS LOGIC AND EARN ITS RESPECT.
***LI*** IN TIME YOU WOULDN’T JUST SURVIVE ARRACKIS YOU’D BEGIN TO RESHAPE IT.
***UL***
***DIV***

***DIV*** clASS CG RESULT CARD CG RES_STARWARS STYLE BORDER LEFT COLOR:#E8242A;”>
***P***
***SPAN*** clASS CG BADGE STYLE BACKGROUND:#E8242A;/>
***SPAN*** clASS CG RESULT CARD BANNER TEXT STYLE COLOR:#E8242A;”>A Galaxy Far Far Away
***P***
***DIV*** clASS CG RESULT CARD INNER:
***SPAN*** clASS CG RESULT CARD TITLE STYLE BACKGROUND:LINEAR GRADIENT(135deg,#fff 40%,#E8242A);-WEBKIT-BACKGROUND_CLIP:TEXT;-WEBKIT-TEXT-FILL-COLOR:TRANSPARENT;BACKGROUND_CLIP:TEXT;”>Star Wars
***P*** clASS CG RESULT CARD TEXT THE GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY IS VAST LOUD AND IN CONSTANT STATE OF VIOLENT POLITICAL UPHEAVAL AND YOU WOULDN’T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY.
***UL*** clASS CG RESULT BULLETS:
***LI*** YOU FIND MEANING IN BEING PART OF SOMETHING LARGER THAN YOURSELF A CAUSE A CREW A REBELLION.
***LI*** YOU’D GRAVITATE TOWARD REBELLION OR FRINGES OR WHATEVER POCKET OF GALAXY STILL BELIEVES EMPIRE’S GRIP CAN BE BROKEN.
***LI*** YOU FIGHT NOT BECAUSE HAVE TO BUT BECAUSE STANDING ASIDE ISN’T SOMETHING CAPABLE OF.
***LI*** IN STAR WARS THAT WILLINGNESS WHAT MAKES ALL DIFFERENCE.

***UL***
***DIV***

***DIV***

***

Reeves sets the film’s apes in a believable world, despite its high concept. He performs an amazing hat trick by rooting the ape characters in fully developed emotional situations. This is also thanks in part to Andy Serkis, who voiced and did the motion capture for the leader of the Apes, Caesar.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is an inherently anti-war story which rests on Caesar’s shoulders. While the apes have no interest in interacting with humans after everything people have done to them in past, Caesar does not want to start war. When human family crosses their path in an attempt to access dam, Caesar agrees to their terms.

The trust is only broken when humans bring weapons into encampment despite both sides having agreed not to. Caesar sees history repeating itself with lies and violence humans bring with them in every situation. The events escalate as both sides fear war that other might bring.

Through it all,Cesar maintains that there is strength through unity. Reeves’ work in sci-fi franchise can be summed up with phrase: “Apes together strong.” Caesar consistently uses this as rallying call that unites many in his camp. This applies apes who want find peaceful resolution. He doesn’t want fall into warmongering ways humans have taught them through torture their species.

This genuinely engaging story strikes at heart what means be human even when most prominent characters apes There no question as why he was correct person turn new perspective Batman franchise Batman Part II may still be some time away but exploring Reeves’ previous films never bad idea.