Review of War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) by Kyle M — 16 Jul 2017

From the beginning of time in 1968 when Charlton Heston crashed land onto a "mysterious" planet to the humanizing reboot series that depicts the beginning, it's an act of cinematic-style evolution. While the original films provided an ideal setting for the film series, the reboot trilogy today became the more definitive, most captivating approach towards the Planet of the Apes. (And genuinely as one of the best trilogies through the cinema). The latest end of a trilogy, the latest blockbuster offering, the latest chapter of the Apes, "War for the Planet of the Apes" adds into its predecessor's mastery with more power and emotions, including sensitivity this time that circles back to "Rise".

About two years since "Dawn" whereas the US military got contacted, Caesar and his tribe of intelligent apes got forced to fully defend their rightful peace and harmony close to the moving enemy lines against an army of humans being led by the ruthless Colonel. When the deadly conflict struck into the heart's chords through the suffering of unimaginable losses, Caesar's morality gets into conflict as he struggles against his darker instincts to avenge the losses of his kind. As he wrestles, he's soon given the Colonel's perspective of the matter as the two leaders of the species goes through leadership and what's best for their respective species that would determine not only just the fate of the two but the planet's future.

The third chapter has a balance of graceful beauty and power through the slightly heightened aspects while overall intellectually masterful, with director Matt Reeves returned with more to be felt and said after the previous chapter that established the expectations for this film. Coming along with the established expectations is the expectancy of how the film will turn out considering how the pinnacle finale of a trilogy is most of the time the best when circling back to the first chapter for narrative completeness. However, the chapter's path not only filled with culminated plot points that approached a narrative structure differently, there were sensitivity in a way of attached emotional resonance to the few most unexpected turns, including the literal sensitivity upon the developmental treatment in the middle.

Without spoiling much on what occurred in the film that became a surprising twist for the rest of the plot to run on, which was quietly hinted in the trailers, the harshness from "Rise" resurfaced at a greater scale that's reasonable on the narrative stance. While it radiates sadness and proves pivotal for strength in heartening developments, it couldn't be helped but also felt controversial as an unfortunate reference to the Nazi's concentration camps for the Jews. How pivotal the tough presence is to the plot stirred a movement within that led to a fresh climax that's not generic. It's a little rough seating towards a worthwhile payoff to simply put it.

Speaking of which, the opening scene, in the usual position, gives you the sense of the overall tone and style that the film carries, showing how an enemy line moves in between the two species when one moving towards the other. From that, the direction is like any war film, with the cinematography shining on the mo-cap/CGI Apes to give them an in-sync coherence of the sequences, which is how the special effects has performed for those characters that's spoken gracefulness as a taste of the overall mastery, while the accompanied script provides intellect.

Behind and alongside the visual effects whilst expressing the written solidness of the script is the performances from a fitting unique cast. Andy Serkis done another great performance as Caesar, who talks more with more emotions further expressed than the previous two films. His antagonistic literal polar opposite the ruthless Colonel provides countering, yet equivalent views on the occurring circumstances in the conflict as they were very well-delivered and pressured by Woody Harrelson. While the returned cast from the predecessor performed nicely with some evolving touch to further their level, the two standouts among the supporting cast are Amiah Miller in her breakthrough performance as a little girl who connects with the apes, and Steve Zahn as another intellect ape with a friendly heart and brief comic relief. Thanks to the cast and the energy they brought into their performances, the film's character-driven based on their own morality and emotional connections.

Finally, similar to the opening scene's position to foretell the impression of the film, and just like a couple other films most recently, one of the best filmic devices as a typical quality is the music. The score for this film was majestic, and yet very familiar in a pleasant tone till it was found out that one of the great music composers today, Michael Giacchino, done it again for another film. His trademark is now apparent on being close to the original vision and expressing the current emotions non-diegetically, including the importance of the trilogy's few themes: family and unity.

Despite getting into sensitive territory later on, the efforts of the enriched aspects being collaborative with each other selectively towards an effective communication are what made "War for the Planet of the Apes" really good at a masterful, majestic level, as in another popcorn entertainment offering being A-rated at a 4-star level. It would've met its expected 4.5-star rating if it weren't for the heaviness of the harsh reality, even though it's a necessary burden to go through. At the end, the appreciative entertainment value labels this as the best, more complex film of the decades-long franchise. (A-).