'WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES' - REVIEW

Release Date: Tuesday 11th July (UK Release)

Directed By: Matt Reeves

Written By: Mark Bomback and Matt Reeves

Produced By: Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver

Starring: Andy Serkis, Steve Zahn, Woody Harrelson, Amiah Miller, Karin Konoval and Terry Notary

Distributed By: 20th Century Fox

With a cinematic anthology of films spanning television, animation and of course big screen, the 'Planet of the Apes' franchise has always served as holding one of the most iconic moments and quotes in cinematic history. In 2011, the announcement of a prequel to the franchise had many questioning it's necessity, particularly given the last representation was (shudder) Tim Burton's 2001 big budget botch job. Rupert Wyatt's Mo Cap driven spectacle however, gave a new lease of life to the simian saga and brought forth a new perspective to the story. Six years and one sequel later, the final instalment has arrived and War has come. 

'War' sees the leader of the simian revolution Caesar (Serkis), hiding away in the forests with what remains of his ape followers, desperate to find a place where apes can live in peace, away from the remaining human's, persistent in achieving the extermination of all apes. As a potential utopia is found by members of Caesar's scouting party, hope still remains. However, following a particularly devastating attack, Caesar sets out to end the war once and for all and so a journey begins, filled with homages to our world's dark past and potentially its equally bleak future. 

As is the way with final instalments in blockbuster trilogies, the trope has a tendency to set aside any deep sense of story and instead allow the visual thrills to saturate the audience for 2 hours. The genius of the new Apes trilogy has always been to have the character development at the forefront of the narrative, using the big budget action set pieces as a means to move the story forward and not just for the joy of seeing apes with machine guns spraying bullets on the big screen. 

Here the depths of the characters are explored to their fullest, in particular, Serkis' Caesar who's dark side is explored to a new level, haunted by the killing of Koba in 'Dawn' by his hand, Caesar's initial moral code of killing only to protect apes is pushed to it's limit in his search for the mysterious Colonel (Harrelson). It's here the film takes it's darker turn as a revenge thriller, whilst also seemingly paying homage to Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' seen at various instances but most notably in the literal sense as we see the rhetoric "Ape-pocalypse Now" graffitied upon a tunnel wall. There's also numerous references to westerns of old as Caesar's band of heroes traverse, woodland, beach and snow, discovering these strange new places as well as displaying truly breathtaking natural locations, truly enveloping the sense of scale director Reeves has created, growing from the previous instalment in terms of both character and narrative. 


With the tone at it's darkest yet, not just for this franchise but for a blockbuster in general, the themes of slavery along with religious iconography rife particularly in it's second act, Reeves opts to evoke imagery akin to human atrocities past, most clearly, the holocaust labour camps in a harrowing scene in which captured apes are forced to work construct a wall (an oddly relevant metaphor perhaps?) as a browbeaten Caesar watches on. Serving as a well needed injection of levity however is the semi tragic character Bad Ape (Zahn). Amidst the moments of monkey melancholia, Bad Ape, left alone for years, revels in finding someone to spend time with. His moments of isolated innocence cannot help but bring a grin across the face. 

As always with this series, the strongest and deepest characters have ironically been those generated by motion capture. The human counterparts unfortunately haven't carried the same emotional weight with the questionable exception of James Franco's Will Rodman in 'Rise'. In 'War', the character with the deepest development, or at least the most exposition is Harrelson's Colonel who's sunglasses wearing, head shaving demeanour gives a visual homage to Colonel Kurtz. Whilst Harrelson gives it his all as the disaffected military veteran, despite a lengthy scene of verbal exposition, little is given to him in terms of development leaving for an imposing, if underwhelming villain. 

Human characters aside, the real stars of this film naturally are the apes. With many deeming mo cap a step away from acting, here the argument can be made it is a step beyond as the physical embodiment of their simian counterparts truly blurs the line of reality, thanks to the astonishing developments in Motion Capture technology by Weta Digital. That said, the strongest performance unquestionably in not only this picture but the entire trilogy is of course, Andy Serkis as Caesar. A role which will now become as associated with him as Gollum, Serkis has proven time after time to be one of the finest actors of his generation and this century with accolades in the future almost certified. Not only providing a physically astonishing performance as we have watched Caesar grow from baby chip to upright ape, Reeves utilises intense close ups at numerous intervals showcasing not only Weta's incredible talent but also Serkis' ability in giving a mind blowing performance just from the eyes, with The Colonel even commenting on Caesar, claiming his eyes to be "Almost Human". A subtle hint of meta behaviour? Either way it serves as a unquestionable truth when seen on screen. 

The scale of this trilogy has in the way of it's titular characters, blossomed to arc beautifully in serving as one of the finest trilogys of it's time and this decade. Serving to display Caesar as an almost Biblically mythic character, the numerous religious references smattered across the final film, Reeves has unquestionably succeeded in revitalising a franchise almost fifty years old, providing a unique interpretation and a final instalment which works to bring tears to to the audience in an emotional finale of closure tinted with hope for the future. Not sparing the spectacle or holding back on it's payoffs, 'War' works as the smartest blockbuster in a long while which wears it's heart on it's sleeve and serves as a lesson for other franchises of the future. Apes. Together. Strong. 

"We are not savages. Apes fight only to survive" - Caesar