Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Toys Are Almost As Scary As The Real Thing

By Brent McKnight | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

Dawn of the Planet of the ApesMuch like Jaws frightened an entire generation out of the water, I suspect that Matt Reeves’ (Cloverfield) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes could scare some folks out of the woods. That may be a bit hyperbolic, but those high-resolution stills of the titular apes we saw last week certainly are all kinds of intimidating. Those creatures may not be real, they may be a combination of computer-generated images and motion capture technology, but they’re neither cute nor cuddly. While a new line of toys aren’t nearly as scary—it’s hard to be afraid of something that is only seven-inches tall—they don’t portray a particularly friendly race of super-smart apes.

Neca has really outdone themselves with the first series of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes figurines. One of the most stunning elements of those aforementioned photo, is the level of detail. You can see each individual hair, every crease on every face, and even single raindrops—it’s always raining in movies like this. The toys, obviously, can’t recreate that detail, but for miniature plastic action figures, they’re pretty damn impressive.

These photos give you a good idea of the intricacy of each toy—there are three members of the pack, Caesar (Andy Serkis), Koba (Toby Kebbell), and Maurice (Karin Konoval). Each has many points of articulation, and you can see from the various poses in these pictures that you can make them do just about anything you want them to. They also come with interchangeable hands, and each character comes with their own personalized accessories.

They may only be half a foot tall, but they’re still pretty damn scary. You can tell that these are made with an older audience in mind. Give them to your younger children and you’re likely just giving them nightmares and a future full extensive therapy an irrational fear of the primate house at the zoo. And though I can’t say for sure, my guess is that this is going to be a rather expensive set, and knowing what I did to my action figures as a kid, I wouldn’t hand them over to one of those little bastards, they’d wind up exploded with firecrackers or melted with a magnifying glass.

Following 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn picks up in a bleak looking future, at least as far as humanity is concerned. Not only have genetically enhanced apes risen up and generally taken over, but a nasty plague has ripped through the human population. A small group of survivors, including Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, are looking for a place to call home in the wreckage that used to be San Francisco. Since they lack numbers, are weak, and are trespassing, they have to get the okay from Caesar and his folks. Though the humans may reach an uneasy accord with the apes, we know what the future holds—it is called Planet of the Apes after all—and that it isn’t destined to last.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens everywhere on July 11.