Review of War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) by Mark F — 04 Aug 2017

This was obviously a political allegory and I didn't agree with the message of that allegory. The apes represent an oppressed group of immigrants and minorities. Then you have this group of evil, Christian, white, nationalistic, nazis who hate them. That's obviously liberal Hollywood's view of Donald Trump and all who support him. That's so unsubtle that they're even portrayed as trying to build a wall. Then you have the nice white people who come along to smash them. That obviously represents liberals.

I tried to watch it just as a movie and even now I'm trying to rate it purely on its storytelling but the politics is so heavy that it doesn't leave you that option.

Basically, it's okay, it tells quite an involving story, it achieves its aim in creating sympathy for the apes, the CGI is great. It's a little slow at times and there are some contrived elements. The main one is Caesar getting shot, then managing to blow up the wall, then managing to escape the big explosion of the base, then managing to survive an avalanche, then managing to trek what looks like hundreds of miles over what can only be assumed was days, while carrying his child on his back...and THEN...he suddenly remembers that he was shot and decides to die purely for the purposes of creating an emotional ending.

That kind of thing and of course the politics drags it down a little. The second one remains the best in the franchise. This one is okay but no more. I suspect the only reason it's being so lauded by the media is because of the very liberal message underpinning it.