By: James Southworth
Rating: 5/5 Stars
If there is a movie series out there that I find to be underrated, it is the modern-day Planet of the Apes movies. This series has never gotten the attention it deserves. Each movie has been consistently awesome, and it's hard for me to say which is better. James Franco in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" surprised me with his complex performance, and the way that the story builds is invigorating. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is impressive in sheer scale with how realistic the CGI effects are, and the ending climax is a marvel. I've always loved the intriguing themes these movies have established, such as what it means to be human and just how far one will go to protect the ones they love. "War for the Planet of the Apes" is the possible final installment in this series. Here, Cesar is once again the main character and we see him and the apes in the aftermath of the second movie. They are now at full-on war with the humans. When one human simply called The Colonel commits a horrifying act against Cesar, he goes on an expedition of his own to avenge his family and the rest of his kind.
This movie was not at all what I was expecting it to be. The trailers and posters built this up to be a gigantic war between humans and apes, and I was anticipating that there would be a huge battle that happens in the end. But in reality, the war scenes only serve as background. They aren't that important, nor do they last that long. Director Matt Reeves instead tackles the more metaphorical wars of the heart, mainly Cesar's. I never thought any movie could have me sympathizing so much with an animal, but this movie does. It is fascinating to witness Cesar's psyche throughout the film, and I could understand each conflicting part of him. I could see why Cesar wanted so badly to kill the Colonel, but I could also understand why Cesar was unsure about doing it. He wants to be good and not give into his violent animal tendencies. It's actually inspiring to see Cesar evolve in this movie into someone who is more human than some of the human characters surrounding him. This film doesn't give you a simple solution that the apes are the only good people of the world, though. Even The Colonel, who is overall a despicable character, still has a part of him that is broken, and in some sad way, we can understand his motivation for wanting to eliminate an entire species. There is a human child that follows the apes around, and she is entirely good, even coming to love several of the apes. Some apes actually work with the humans against their own species, but only because they are fearful of losing their lives. Matt Reeves does a great job in using Cesar as the character who attempts to understand and accept both worlds, instead of being filled with hate. Those themes alone make this movie a powerful watch.
Of course, the film is technically impressive. In the first movie, I will admit that perhaps some of the ape effects were not the best but they were still cool looking. Now, you can't even tell that the apes are not really there. They all feel like creatures you could easily touch, every hair on their body looks alive. Their faces are always expressive, and you can understand what each of the main apes' personalities are. The special effects team show absolute dedication in bringing all of them on screen to life. The film is just awesome visually, as well. Every shot is visually impressive, and there is always something to look at. The aspect I enjoyed the most was when dialogue was used versus when it wasn't. It isn't often that we see a war movie have completely silent moments. But this movie has a lot of them. This is of course due to the fact that some of the apes can't talk. But Cesar, who can talk, sometimes chooses not to, and instead the expressions speak for themselves. That makes many moments in this movie all the more engaging, as you really have to pay attention to what is going on. Many moments here didn't need dialogue at all, and that made those moments feel powerful in a way beyond description. When characters do speak, the dialogue hits hard. I felt as though every word in the movie had weight, no spoken dialogue was without importance. There's not many films where you can say something like that. There is plenty of action here too, and it is all heart-pounding and intense.
The acting is top notch. There was not one performance that felt out of place. The highlight of the film is once again Andy Serkis as Cesar. I have never gotten to see Serkis in a starring role in a movie before, and this movie (as well as the rest of the series) proves that he deserves more lead roles. A lot of Cesar's expressiveness is due to just how good Andy is at making animated characters feel so real. He's a one in a million talented individual. He just brings so much life to Cesar, and I felt and understood him at every moment. The animators can only do so much at making a CGI character feel real; Serkis is the one who finalizes accomplishing this incredible feat. This is undoubtedly his best role to date; in my honest opinion it even beats his other CGI roles like Gollum. Woody Harrelson is an excellent contrast to Cesar as The Colonel. I've never seen Harrelson in a role like this before, but he does it so well. He's not on screen for that long, but any time he's on, I was very invested in what he was saying. Harrelson brings the right amount of menace to this character, making me feel unsettled every time. This might be my favorite role of his to date. Steve Zahn as Bad Ape offers the first real comedic relief this movie trilogy has given us. While I wasn't sure about him at first, he became likeable very quickly. This character was fortunately not used to excess, but rather he offered some funny moments in a movie that can be very dark. He kept the movie from becoming overwhelming in its heavy content. The character also was complex and I wanted to know more about him. Amiah Miller as Nova delivered in a way I didn't expect. Child actors can be a hit or miss, and Miller was definitely a hit. She had to play her role entirely silent, so it was impressive to see how expressive she could be. She didn't have to say a word, but I understood exactly what emotion she was having or what she would say if she could talk. I imagine we'll be seeing a lot more of this actress in future years.
This was easily my most anticipated movie of the year (yes, even higher up than films like "Star Wars" and any Marvel movie), and it doesn't disappoint at all. From the heart-pounding beginning action sequence to the powerful ending, this movie was pitch perfect all the way through. It is definitely not the war movie I expected it to be, but I know now that it was the war movie I wanted. This movie deserves at least an Oscar for best visual effects, and I will be extremely angry if it doesn't get nominated. I couldn't possibly recommend this movie enough, and if you haven't already, you should watch the whole series. This is one of the best movie trilogies I've ever seen, right up there with The Dark Knight and The Lord of the Rings series. "War for the Planet of the Apes" may well be the most powerful and fascinating movie of the year!
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