If "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," the second chapter in the reboot of the much-loved sci-fi franchise, feels like a different sort of blockbuster sequel — deeper, richer, more involving — that may be because director Matt Reeves is not your typical blockbuster director.

"I'd been offered a lot of tent-pole movies after my last two films, but I hadn't taken one because I never found one that I felt I could tell from a personal enough perspective," says the 46-year-old director of "Cloverfield" and "Let Me In."

"What tells me where to put the camera and how to talk to the actors — or what the movie should look or feel like — is something instinctual that comes from an emotional understanding of the world," says Reeves.