Review of War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) by Reel Life R — 15 Jul 2017

War for the Planet of the Apes - When is the Academy going to wake up and nominate Andy Serkis? Not recognizing his achievements in motion capture has them looking like the knuckle-draggers.

At the very least the rumor is that this movie was shot with motion capture, but I'm not too sure. I'm more inclined to believe that they found a bunch of apes that spoke English, and decided to cast them in the movie. We didn't quite reach the uncanny valley with Tarkin in Rogue One, but it sure seems like we've reached the animal equivalent with every ape in this film.

Playing one of these (apparently) CGI apes is Steve Zahn, someone I hadn't seen in a movie in years. And while I guess I still haven't technically seen him, he makes his presence felt. He's introduced a little deep into the story, but brings a welcome dose of levity from thereon out. Looking back to both Rise and Dawn, there really weren't any comedic characters, or all that many moments come to think of it. Again, Andy Serkis is incredible with everything he brings to Caesar, but Zahn finds a way to steal the show.

Earlier in the year I mentioned how John Wick 2 had surprised me with how much I enjoyed its score. Well, I was equally as surprised with how much I didn't care for this one. It felt very heavy-handed, trying to be more grandiose than what the scenes seemed to call for. Other times it came off extremely cheesy, utilizing metallic wind chimes for tender moments, and tubas for bumbling ones. As it turns out, it's Michael Giacchino, the composer for the aforementioned Rogue One. I thought I didn't quite appreciate the score as much for that film because it wasn't John Williams, but it would seem I'm just not a fan of his in general.

One of the main successes of the previous two films was that you could sympathize with both sides. They each had their flaws, but you could also see the good in them. In War, it leans solely to one faction, leaving the other side as just a group of mustache twirling villains. Adopting this structure and abandoning the former was an odd turn for the franchise to take.

Rest assured, the positives easily outweigh the negatives here. Prior to viewing I was touting the possibility of this being one of the best trilogies ever. It seems like a lofty goal, but other trilogies, with the exception of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, dropped the ball with their third installment- The Dark Knight, Back to the Future, The Matrix, and on and on. Star Wars will always be the best trilogy in the galaxy, but as far as the others are concerned, hail Caesar.