Review of War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) by Phil H — 14 Jul 2017

WARNING: Despite the title, this is NOT a war film. For those (like myself) that were expecting Apeheart with Cesar as William Wallace, it's more of a cross between "The Great Escape" and "The Outlaw Josey Wales". If you're fine with that, then you're REALLY gonna love this film.

Twentieth Century Fox admirably caps off their finest trilogy since the original Star Wars with this latest apes adventure. It seems almost criminal to label one of these as better than the other since none of them are bad and work so well as a cohesive whole. However, I think it's fair to order them here in descending quality to get an accurate gage of my opinion. My preference goes Dawn, War, then Rise; not as good as the last one, but better than the first. Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) returns to the director's chair following the stunning success of "Dawn", as does star Andy Serkis, delivering another Oscar caliber mo-cap performance as our protagon-ape Cesar. All the hype regarding the special effects is COMPLETELY justified. You'll swear that Cesar and his fellow apes are real this time around...it's THAT groundbreaking.

As for the story, we're a few years after the ending of "Dawn". Cesar is dealing with the blowback of Koba's insurrection in the form of once loyal comrades now assisting the dwindling human military as they attempt to defeat Cesar and his increasingly battle-weary followers once and for all. This culminates in a devastating personal loss for Cesar at the hands of the mysterious "Colonel" played by a creepy Woody Harrelson. Cesar then sets off on a trail of revenge that could ultimately corrupt his ape-soul the same way it did Koba's. Along for the ride are a handful of his oldest companions, a mute orphan girl and an odd chimp sidekick (played by the hilarious Steve Zahn). The only thing keeping it from masterpiece territory is a little too much exposition, with a pretentious prologue and a curious lack of action putting a damper on things. That said, it's still one of the best films I've seen this summer. And those that were expecting the battle epic proposed in the trailers and posters really shouldn't be too disappointed. In regards to my earlier Braveheart reference, who's to say Mad Mel won't take the helm in the inevitable 4th entry?