War for the Planet of the Apes is a 2017 post apocalyptic action film. Directed by Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Cloverfield) and starring Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Lord of the Rings), Woody Harrelson (Natural Born Killers), Steve Zahn (Dallas Buyers Club) and Karin Konoval (Planet of the Apes series). The film acts as the final film in the rebooted trilogy, as well as a prequel to the original Planet of the Apes series.
War for the Planet of the Apes picks up 5 years after the events of Dawn, and 15 years after the events of Rise. The man made virus has almost entirely wiped out the human race and given the apes the evolved intelligence to form their own society, and army, after relations broke down in the previous film. Led by the trilogy's hero Caesar (Serkis), the ape colony are under constant attack and seek to permanently move to a more remote location. However, catastrophic actions taken by the leader of the human army, "The Colonel" (Harrelson), spark a full blown war as Caesar seeks blind revenge and the balance of apes and humanity hangs in the balance.
Perhaps the most unexpected thing about War, is how it simultaneously manages to be a war film of epic proportions whilst also remaining a very cerebral and personal story that has been played out of the course of three incredible films. Matt Reeves, and series masterminds Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, have never been interested in the conventional action/sci-fi or action/war film and this shows more than ever as the trilogy concludes just as it started, from the perspective of the apes. This, of course, absolutely hinges on Serkis' central performance as protagonist Caesar, as well as an excellent supporting performance from Konoval as the much loved Maurice the Orangutan.
Luckily, this is a career best performance from Serkis as Weta digital push the mo cap performance to it's absolute limits and you never once consider that this might not be a Chimpanzee. Harrelson turns in the second best Colonel Kurtz impression of the year (after Samuel L Jackson in Skull Island) and, I have to admit, executes a much darker performance than I thought he was capable of (it's been a long time since Natural Born Killers). Though Toby Kebbel's Koba is missed from Dawn, the new character of "Bad Ape" (Zahn) breathes a new sense of fun into the mix that was noticeably absent from the last film and the comic relief is well judged and very welcome.
Mad Max, Star Wars, Back to the Future, The Godfather...stand aside. The Planet of the Apes "Caesar" trilogy is the most consistently incredible and breathtaking movie trilogy ever crafted. And that would not have been possible if War had gone the way of many bungled and ill judged threequels. War for the Planet of the Apes does not falter or buckle under the enormous pressure placed upon it by the previous 2 films (or indeed the original 5 films). War sticks to it's guns and spits in the face of the brainless Michael Bay blockbuster, proving you can make a big budget action movie with brains and heart, told entirely from the perspective of non human characters. This might not be the end for the Apes franchise, but Reeves and Serkis can stand by this trilogy and say they made the absolute best films of this decade.
***** 5 Stars
What did you think of WFTPOTA? What's your favourite trilogy?
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