Genre: Drama/ Action/ Adventure/ Thriller
Runtime: 140 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer
Description: After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar (Andy Serkis) wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.
Review: It’s very tempting to close a trilogy with a bombastic and epic action film. More characters, more explosions, bigger everything. Director Matt Reeves managed to stay away from all that and turns “War for the Planet of the Apes” into an intimate war film.
Even the opening of the film, a spectacular confrontation between one of the last human armies and Caesar’s colony, is pretty timid. Minimal dialogue, the camera focusses on lyrics on the soldier’s helmets. It sets the tone for the film.
Some people accuse “War for the Planet of the Apes” of false marketing. They expected the battle of all battles and claim it’t not a real war film. But it is most definite a war film, one that zooms in on the ethics of a war.
And this fits Caesar perfectly, one of the most sympathetic characters created over the past 10 years, thanks to Andy Serkis and his magnificent performance. Where Caesar was idealistic before and wanted to keep peace, but now he is acting out of revenge and realizes he is no better than Koba. “War for the Planet of the Apes” shows us that war is a product of escalation, revenge and emotion.
The only human opponent Caesar gets here is from the Colonel, played by Woody Harrelson. He is Caesar’s complete opposite when it comes to morals. But there isn’t that many conflict between humans and apes. And strangely enough, that’s the charm of the film. It doesn’t try to top “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” or “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”. It gives us something new and it’s a great end to a strong trilogy.
Rating: 4,5/ 5
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