After the first two brilliant Apes Movies, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, we have the last in the trilogy with War for the Planet of the Apes.
The rebooted franchise has become very popular, with modern CGI taking the place of “men in monkey suits”, the three films have brought us the story of how Earth has been taken to the world that is not run by Apes, but a world that has struggled to have man and primate living side by side in unity!
So to recap on the story so far, in “Rise” we met Will Rodman (James Franco), a scientist in San Francisco, is experimenting with a drug that he hopes will cure his father’s (John Lithgow) Alzheimer’s disease, after Rodman’s work is deemed a failure, Will becomes the guardian of Caesar an infant ape that shows promise in his intellect and his abilities, but with any twist in fate, Ceaser becomes a threat to man and his dominion over Earth.
The second in the trilogy, “Dawn” took us ten years into the timeline after the simian flu has wiped out much of the world’s homo-sapiens, Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his ever-growing band of followers have established a thriving colony just outside San Francisco in Muir Woods. Meanwhile, a small band of human survivors emerges, which forces Caesar, as leader, to grapple with the dual challenge of protecting his people and re-establishing a relationship with the remaining human population, the latter being Caesar’s secret wish.
This Time It’s War for the Planet of the Apes
The third movie now sees the final battle for Earth, Ceaser (again played by Andy Serkis) is now forced into a battle that he really didn’t want, but after a deadly and devastating attack on Ceaser home by a ruthless Colonel (Woody Harrelson), who is hell-bent on destroying all apes, Caesar takes it upon himself to put an end to the Colonel and to avenge his family and his kind.
But during Caesar’s journey to his confrontation with the Colonel, Caesar faces his darker side, such as his memories of Koba (Toby Kebbell) and whether he is becoming what he doesn’t want to be. It was nice to see Kebbell returning to the film for some nicely shot sequences.
War for the Planet of the Apes is certainly a lot darker than the previous movies, but that’s not to say that this is a bad thing, the film reminded me of the journey taken in Apocolypse Now, as Caeser travel to meet the Colonel and confront him for the damage that he has done. There are many moments through the film that do lift you out from the darkness of the story to lift your spirits, such as Maurice taking in the orphaned girl (played by Amiah Miller) and showing that Apes and humans can live together.
Amiah Miller plays a character that ties in nicely with the original 1968 Planet of the Apes, her character is called “Nova” and those of you that have seen the 1968 film will remember that in that version there is a character called Nova (played by Linda Harrison) who was the human animal mate of Col. George Taylor (played by Charleton Heston).
With the dark and heartfelt moments in the film also come the comedy moments that are nicely timed and performed by Steve Zahn as “Bad Ape”, I have to say I fell in love with this character as soon as he came on the screen, he’s not only cute, but the vocal performance from Zahn has beautifully done and the character not only had me and others laughing, but Bad Ape also pulled at the heartstrings during his screen time.
Andy Serkis has yet again put on a brilliant performance as Caesar, his skills on motion capture and characterization have certainly kept Caeaser alive through the Apes Trilogy, through the film you feel for the character and you gun for the Apes to win over the humans, the colonel and humanity have had their time, now it’s time for the Apes to have theirs!
Director/Writer Matt Reeves has certainly brought the atmosphere of the Apes Movies back to life in War for the Planet of the Apes, it’s not only exciting to watch, but with its running time of 2h 20m it doesn’t bore, the action sequences are brilliantly done from the start. For a film that has so much CGI in it to produce a planet of apes, it all comes together nicely, the RealD 3D also works very well in not only the brightly lit scenes but also in the darker scenes, which is also a bonus in any film that has a lot of darker lit scenes.
When it comes to the atmosphere of the movie, not only does the film look good, it sounds good as well, the use of the surround sound is fantastic from the simple things as the bird sounds etc in the forest to ricocheting bullets and explosions engulfing the cinema in their entirety. But add to all this the brilliant atmospheric soundtrack from Michael Giacchino (Lost, Jurrasic World, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and you have a movie that makes you feel that you have stepped through the doors of the cinema to another world.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a worthy addition and completion of the Apes Movies, but be warned this movie is one that may give a tear or two during its screening, it’s been a while since I’ve been to a movie that made me feel emotional and this is one of them.
Summary
If you love the Ape Movies then War for the Planet of the Apes is a must see, it’s a fitting end to the trilogy with great action to tie all the films together.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
