War for the Planet of the Apes
/"There are times when it is necessary to abandon our humanity to save humanity."
Filmology Rating: 3.17 out of 4
At times when it seems our world might be heading towards another World War it might seem odd to most people to find escapism with the latest Planet of the Apes trilogy, the first part directed by Rupert Wyatt and the latter two directed by Matt Reeves, but I find they help me make sense of our crazy world. After calling the Shakespearean tragedy Dawn of the Planet of the Apes one of the best films of 2014, I couldn’t wait to watch the next chapter in Caesar’s story. The perfect heartbreaking of Dawn left me feeling an enormous high for the battle to come, but does War for the Planet of the Apes deliver the terrifying battle we were promised?
Two years after Koba tried to lead a final crusade against the humans, Caesar's family is deep in hiding attempting to avoid humans. Caesar, played for the third time by Andy Serkis, is conflicted about what next step to take. He wants to show mercy on the humans, not wanting to have his heart covered in darkness like Koba’s was, but at the same time he wants to keep his family safe. Caesar’s entire morality is challenged when his home is attacked by The Colonel, played by Woody Harrelson, who refuses to let the planet be taken over by a primitive lifeform. Caesar quickly has to decide if he will be controlled by emotion or if he will continue to think rationality with the upcoming war.
In one regard I was very disappointed with War for the Planet of the Apes and that would be with the lack of war. This film feels like Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith with the promise of a war in the previous film and then the film opens with the final battle. How could you not feel cheated as an audience member? Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ends with the war drum chanting, and this film even has war drums over the 20th Century Fox logo yet again promising an intense battle to come. The film opens with a horrifying attack from a military platoon on a group of unsuspecting apes. The film at this point isn’t afraid to show the carnage of war and how both sides of the war are in complete chaos. Matt Reeves is delivering the film I was expecting during the opening scene but isn’t that the biggest problem I have had with this latest incarnation of Planet of the Apes? I assumed like many that Rise of the Planet of the Apes would be a bland Syfy action/adventure film, but what you instead ended up with is a film that tells how we shouldn’t let emotion control our scientific advances and how we should treat everyone with respect and understand that we all need to have freedom to feel alive. Based off the posters for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes I went in expecting Caesar to be leading a final revolt on the humans but what I got was a story of how our greatest enemies could come from our greatest allies. Both of the previous installments completely surprised me and defied all of my expectations so I shouldn’t have been surprised that War for the Planet of the Apes did as well.
Once I got past the initial shock that this wasn’t the film I was expecting, I found a wealth of aspects to enjoy in the film. One of my favorite aspects of the film was the political allegory. For those who are unaware, I’m unimpressed with steps the Trump Administration is taking and to watch all of the values that Trump claims to care about come crashing to the ground in the film gave me reason to smile. The easiest comparison to make with the film is comparing Woody Harrelson’s The Colonel to the Orange Menace himself. Both believe that a wall will keep them safe from outside dangers, both have a love for a police state force, and both have a cult that will follow any orders that they are given without questioning it. For those who don’t want to look at this film as a political allegory, you don’t have to; while it might be hard at times, you can still enjoy the film for what little entertainment value the film has. I’m not trying to say this film is drab but it has the sense of entertainment that a film like The Dark Knight has, which is a film that makes you think and will hopefully look at the world with a new viewpoint. To continue the allegory you have the ape society which would be the majority of the United States, that majority being those who voted against Trump, who are only strong when together rather than when they are forced apart by The Colonel. One of the latest events that occurred that made me think of the real world majority coming together would be the Women’s March that was held in January 2017, the world focused on the positivity that could be done when everyone unites rather than the negativity and fear that is being forced down our throats by the current administration. War for the Planet of the Apes is a landmine for any political junkie and should be shown to any modern American politics class, but once again for those who don’t want to think about the real world issues going on, you should be able to ignore the allegories in the film if you decide to be a passive viewer.
Visually the film is a masterpiece. The digital effects company Weta Digital continues to make every creature so photo-realistic that you might begin to question your own reality. Weta has worked on films like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, District 9, and Prometheus; proving with each film that they only grow more comfortable with the technology which helps them show us worlds and characters we never thought we could dream of. The effects team however wouldn’t be able to do the amazing job that they do without the outstanding performances given by the cast, especially the performance given by Andy Serkis. Some might try to claim that the digital artists at Weta are responsible for the performance given by Serkis but I would argue that they help enhance his performance. I hardly ever hear the same complaints when it comes to practical effects; did anyone complain about Jeff Goldblum’s performance in The Fly or Ron Perlman’s in Hellboy? The work that Weta does is fantastic but when it comes to the performances it acts as a digital mask to help the filmmaker defy reality and show a realistic looking world. Serkis gives one of the most heartbreaking performances I have seen this year and he needs to be given a nomination for Best Actor this year for the amazingly human performance coming from the ape leader Caesar.
The Rise/Dawn/War trilogy will be regarded as the best science fiction trilogy, at least up to this point in time. It offers one of the best glances at our society which is so fragile and it shows what might happen if we aren’t careful about our creations. The first two films are great blockbuster entertainment while also being mentally stimulating, but the third escalates the story from being entertainment to becoming legend. Generations to come will be talking about Caesar and his rise to power and how great of a leader he was.
Rating: See It
-Jonny G
Caesar is getting hunted by the humans lead by a ruthless Colonel (Woody Harrelson). After Caesar suffers a terrible loss, he sets out to find the Colonel, get revenge, and end this once and for all.
RISE, DAWN, and now WAR. From start to finish, this has been one amazing trilogy. This review is going out almost a week late so by now (sorry I’ve been really busy…. ), if you really wanted to see this movie you probably already have. For those who haven’t, go see it! Quit monke...ying around…. Sorry I had to.
I'm actually going to make this review somewhat short and right to the point because its already been established in the first two films how great this trilogy is. Andy Serkis as Caesar is fantastic, the special effects are incredible, the action is great, and the cinematography and production value is out of this world; WAR isn’t any different when it comes to this aspect.
What I want to talk about is the title of the movie, WAR. While you might think it has to do with lots of action and a great big battle at the end (which there is a big battle at the end but realistically, this probably had the least amount of action in the series) but it is much more than that. WAR isn’t referring to the physical conflict, it is referring to the emotional anguish that Caesar is going through. After suffering a terrible loss, Caesar is so full of hate. All he can see is revenge for what the humans have done. He no longer can accept peace. If you recall from the previous film DAWN, this is what Koba thought, the ape who tried to bring down and kill Caesar. Has Caesar really become what he tried to stop? Was Koba actually right? Can there be peace? There is a war going on inside of Caesar and it shows. This internal conflict was by far the best part of the movie for me. Andy Serkis is such a talent and the entire visual effects team to really capture each one of these tormented emotions he was going through.
WAR is an excellent end to the series. If you have not seen it already, find the time to do so because you will not regret it.
Rating: See It
-Nick