And now, we near the end of this particular reboot of the Planet Of The Apes franchise, as we now have just this one, and Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes. Today, let’s discuss War For The Planet Of The Apes!
Plot: Two years following the events of the previous film, Caesar’s ape tribe gets massacred, and the surviving ones, including Caesar’s advisor, Maurice (Karin Konoval), are taken captive to a prison war camp that’s run by Colonel Wesley (Woody Harrelson). Now, can Caesar (Andy Serkis) rescue the surviving apes from captivity, and bring them to a paradise oasis?
Well, here is one of the rare to fewer examples of a franchise that, for the most part, ends up getting g better. War For The Planet Of The Apes is a good example of how to do a continuation, if not have a conclusion, of a series. The stakes were raised higher this time in terms of having the characters well developed, including the newer ones. I mean even the newer young girl, whose name is Nova, and happens to be mute, and follows some of the main ape characters on a quest at one point, ends up being a memorable character. Colonel Wesley was also a great villain as well. Plus, how could you go wrong with someone like Woody Harrelson playing someone like him, especially for one, as great of an actor as he is, and two, how he ends up realizing the kind of harm that putting pesticides in plants has caused? But beside the point! The visuals are also really great. What’s more is that Caesar, in spite of what had happened to his family, and the majority of his tribe overall, still recognized that there was still good in humanity, and learned to still have a loving, and humble attitude. Because of this, I think many of us could learn from a fictional character like him in this film, and in the previous films before this one. And another thing! How could you not love the score by Michael Giacchino? Additionally, the fortress that has some of the apes prisoner in is also really well-designed. Truthfully, I think the facility was inspired by the concentration prison camps that Adolf Hitler, and the Nazis had Jews imprisoned during WWII.what’s kore is that not only was Colonel Wesley a fantastic villain in this franchise, but he served as a great example of having similarities to historical figures like Hitler, and his army having parallels to those of the Nazis. The storyline, overall, especially when it came to around the apes being imprisoned, and the climax that occurs around the middle to end of the film, seemed to be very much inspired by the events of WWII. Finally, had Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes not been released, this might have felt like a bittersweet, but also satisfying conclusion to this reboot of this particular franchise.
As far as downsides for this film, and sequel go, well, there were one, or two characters that felt a little underdeveloped, most notably with one who had this arc that came rather out of the blue without any buildup to it, and things like that.
And that’s my review for War For The Planet Of The Apes. Honestly, with this one being a very good grand finale, I’m not sure a fourth film was necessary. Still, we’ll find out soon. Anyway, this film has a lot of heart to it, the development of the story was really great, for the most part, and the ending, let’s just say can potentially feel both bittersweet, and satisfying at the same time. Honestly, if you have found yourself enjoying these newer Planet Of The Apes movie, but haven’t seen this one for some reason, I would definitely recommend it. You’d be surprised, I’m sure. So yeah, see this Planet Of The Apes film, and see what you think!
Final Grade: A
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 