War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Genres

Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

Director

Matt Reeves

Country

USA

Cast

Andy Serkis, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Ty Olsson, Judy Greer, Max Lloyd-Jones, Devyn Dalton, Sara Canning, Michael Adamthwaite, Aleks Paunovic, Alessandro Juliani, Woody Harrelson, Amiah Miller, Gabriel Chavarria, Chad Rook

Storyline

After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar (Andy Serkis) set on his own quest to avenge his kind and faces the ruthless Colonel (Woody Harrelson) responsible for the losses.

Opinion

Apes. Trilogy. Strong. These are the exact words I used last night on Twitter to describe the trilogy. And frankly, there aren't more appropriate words because, after two fantastic films, Matt Reeves closes the trilogy with a stunning, emotional, moving and thought-provoking movie that makes for a perfect ending.

The story is original, touching and absorbing; it is slowly and yet beautifully developed, and it contains many reflections of today's society *coughs*wall*coughs*. Also, there's a little introduction that makes it work as a stand alone film as well. The ending is a little predictable, especially if you saw the original series, but it still is suspenseful and gripping. But what makes War for the Planet of the Apes truly stand out is the emotional charge of the story. I would have never thought I'd see a blockbuster with so many emotions. Genuine emotions are captured in most of the scenes.

And those emotions, of course, are delivered by the characters, one in particular to be honest, Caesar. This time around, the leader of the apes reached a complexity that the two previous movies could only aspire. The film digs deep into his morals, values and beliefs and wonderfully explores his inner conflict. And hail, Caesar, oops, I meant, Andy Serkis for delivering a stunning performance. His facial expressions, body movements are just perfect. Easily his best performance ever.

The other characters are great too. Although not as developed as Caesar, the other apes are nicely done, and funny new entry Bad Ape lightens up a little the film dramatic tones. Then there are the humans. Most of them are just paper-thin caricatures, but then there's the Colonel. He is your typical, cruel military antagonist and yet he qualifies as the best villain of the franchise. He's even better than Koba in my opinion. And the performance from Woody Harrelson is very strong, especially when he delivers his character's backstory and in the final part of the film. I also liked the contrast with the little girl. They are both human and yet they couldn't be more different. However, the character didn't have much to do and was nearly useless.

Visually, the film is breathtaking. Special effects and cinematography are both stunning. The action, that could be the film's biggest problem. Although it didn't bother me at all, War for the Planet of the Apes lacks action. There aren't added a lot of battle scenes - the trailers gave away most of them. However, the action sequences are exciting and very well done, so I'm not sure it's a real problem.

One thing is for sure, War for the Planet of the Apes is much more than a Summer blockbuster and easily qualifies as one of the best films of the year so far.