a5c7b9f00b Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.
After being constantly attacked by the humans, despite asking for peace, Caesar and the Apes decide to find a new home safe from the humans. But after the tragic deaths of the most recent attack form the humans, Caeser embarks on a mission to kill the ruthless human Colonel.
(This is going to be a short little review and nothing too in depth) First off I'll say that I enjoyed this movie, or at least certain bits and pieces of it. The open action sequence is downright incredible and the ending battle is not too bad either. However the middle section of this movie can be downright dreadful. The trailers, marketing, and title for this movie have altogether been very misleading. There really is no 'war' in this movie. The Apes never have a big battle with the humans or anything of the sort. Instead they are sent to a concentration camp and escape from it. If you were expecting lots of action you wont be in luck here. The action is very sparse for a nearly 2 and a half hour film. The pacing for most of it is actually terrible, and I even found myself bored a few times throughout the middle of the film. The army of "special forces soldiers" in opposition to the apes is downright autistic. They literally let a girl walk right through the door into their base completely unseen even though they are literally at war with another group of humans. They also completely fail to notice the apes escaping and they never really notice that they are gone. On top of this, their base was somehow built over like a foot of snow that somehow never collapsed in even though the apes literally dig through it in like 20 seconds. Woody Harrelson's character, who is simply called 'The Colonel" was a pretty decent (if somewhat by the numbers) villain that was only made interesting due to Woody's pretty fantastic performance. Unfortunately pretty much every other human actor in this movie is completely terrible and most characters in this movie are just stupid in general, like the soldier who locks himself in with all the apes to try and pick a fight instead of just shooting them from his watch tower.The motion capture work in this film is also incredible. Like "Dawn" it can truly feel like you are watching real apes on screens and not actors in motion-capture suits. <br/><br/>There is a much needed comic relief character named "Badape" who is introduced during the second act of the film who really breaks up the monotony that had begun to set in. The characters meeting and interacting with him is probably the only part of the middle section of this film I actually enjoy. I don't really hate any of it (except for the worst scene in the entire franchise. In it, an ape puts a flower in a little girl's hair that has been traveling with them to create some bullsh*t bond with her, only to get killed in the VERY NEXT SCENE. Like, they tried to create some sort of character for this ape who hadn't said a single word yet and relationship between him and the girl but they don't even give it an entire scene to develop before they kill him and expect the audience to care about his death. It's so cheesy combined with the fact that the girl breaks out crying when this ape dies even though she didn't even cry when this ape and Caesar literally SHOT AND KILLED HER REAL DAD!!!) but I don't really like any of it either. It's just so Uninterestingly and not even shot all that well either. Once they actually get to the Colonel's base and get captured the movie picks up somewhat, and while I don't like a lot of it, there are definitely more moments I like than dislike during this section of the film. The real saving grace of this movie overall, besides the few spectacular action scenes and amazing CG work is the score, which is downright fantastic for a clichéd big budget film like this one. <br/><br/>Overall I don't hate this film as much as I might seem, I just think it's overlong and mismarketed. If anything this film should have been called "Rise" and the previous film should have instead been called "war".
Man, I can always tell if a series is great if I get that empty feeling when it comes to a close. <br/><br/>With that being said—this is one of the most gripping, emotional films I've seen all year, serving as a fitting bookend for Mark Reeves' outstanding series of Apes movies. <br/><br/>This is a bit of an unorthodox ending to a trilogy. Instead of aiming for the overblown action spectacle that usually close these things out, War for delivers a deeply moving, character driven story. That might turn some viewers off from the film, especially because the marketing behind this movie—and even the title—creates certain expectations. While this could be disappointing, the film is so effective on an emotional level that you can forgive it for it's lack of constant action. <br/><br/>War for definitely benefits from the two previous films when it comes to character development, specifically the development of protagonist Caesar. Caesar is, in my opinion, one of the greatest characters ever put to film. We have seen him go from orphaned infant, to budding revolutionary, to thoughtful leader, and now; extremely weary general. This slow buildup of character depth makes the completion of his arc truly captivating. When tragedy strikes, you care. When good favor comes his way, you care. <br/><br/>If we talk about Caesar, we have to talk about the man behind the ape. Andy Serkis has done a marvelous job portraying every stage of Caesar's life through motion capture in these films, and his performance is just as amazing here. It would be a tragedy if Serkis doesn't at the very least get a Oscar nomination for his performance here. The emotion that is conveyed through the eyes and voice of Serkis' performance is far superior than most "real human" acting performances this year. <br/><br/>If Serkis deserves an Oscar for his performance, than the visual effects team definitely deserves one as well. The CGI of the apes is simply flawless. Director Matt Reeves makes a point of shooting the apes close up, really putting the outstanding work this effects team did on showcase.<br/><br/>Not only is this the most visually polished film of the trilogy, this is the most beautifully shot film I've seen all year. From beginning to end, Reeves puts together poignant sequences that rely almost exclusively on visuals. There are many historic visual allusions here, ranging from shots reminiscent of the Trail of Tears to Holocaust symbolism. The allegory presented combined with the emotional investment in these characters, creates some truly heart- wrenching moments. <br/><br/>One element that I thought didn't work as well in the previous movies were the human characters. Woody Harrelson flips this trend on it's head with an excellent performance here as the Colonel. Not only is the Colonel the most villainous human character of the series, he is the most complex human character of this trilogy. <br/><br/>I can talk on and on about how much I love this movie, but instead I'll let the stars speak for themselves. Just go see this.<br/><br/>War for the Planet of the Apes pulls absolutely no punches, delivering a powerful conclusion to one of the greatest trilogies ever made. All aboard the Andy Serkis Oscar train.
It’s not just the CG that’s visually impressive here; “War” boasts some extraordinary set pieces.
