Review of War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) by Alex Bonafide A — 26 Aug 2017

The Planet of the Apes prequels is the best thing that's ever happened to the franchise-- because they try to establish some sanity to the series. It wasn't until I rewatched the first one recently (Rise) that I noticed how much it hasn't held up since its 2011 release-- CGI has become more realistic in just 6 years, and the delivery of the story comes off more comical than intended. The second movie (Dawn) however is still a solid film. With the origins established, it had the freedom to create tension and add a level of gravitas you wouldn't think imaginable for a movie half-devoted to talking CGI apes.

Now with the release of War of the Planet of the Apes, the circumstances are hinted to be turned way up. The problem is... that doesn't really happen, and only mildly so at movie's end. There is no major clash between Ape and Man-- the real clash is between Cesar and, well, himself. Unlike the time which passed between the first two films, this movie pretty much takes place right where the second film leaves it. This is significant because with the large amount of time passing between the first two movies, the director doesn't need to waste time on hashing out all the events which led to that movie. Unfortunately, War of the Planet of the Apes is set up to be more like a "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Pt. 2", which is exactly what happens. The audience is left to follow Cesar down the familiar territory of questioning if humans are redeemable, a conundrum that should have been resolved by the end of last movie, and also avoidable with precedented time jump.

While Cesar was a/the prominent character in these prequels, it's not until this movie he is made THE main character. This is also significant, because with this subtle change it eliminates a strong human cast, which was a pivotal element of the last movie's strength. Can Cesar's computer animated shoulders handle this weight? Visually, the CGI of Cesar, paired with Andy Serkis's performance do well to humanize Cesar. But this eventually wears out, as the movie carries on mostly with apes on screen. The story gives an obligatory comedic character to what otherwise becomes a very drawn out adventure, but even the inserted humor doesn't mask the slow pacing of an already unnecessary story. The fact that the story involves almost exclusively four apes also weakens the tension and scale.

With "War" being the least ambiguous out of its predecessors' throwaway titles, it was a big letdown seeing the direction this movie took the franchise. Apes were STILL the inferior group in the world, despite their ability to shoot guns in the previous movie and carry a disease that killed off almost all the human race. It took a very long time for this movie to get to its point, yet although a rather boring episode to sit through, it ironically is still better than the original movies.