-Written by John Cajio.
War for the Planet of the Apes is a film that does not suck. While perhaps not quite rising to the heights of its immediate predecessor, War for the Planet of the Apes is a terrific conclusion to Caesar’s tale.
The stakes are incredibly high for Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his band of apes in the five years that have passed since the events of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He and his apes have been in hiding from the Alpha-Omega paramilitary group that has been slowly and systematically hunting them, led by a merciless Colonel McCullough (Woody Harrelson). Both Caesar and McCullough will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, resulting in a story filled with tragic moments, naturally irrational decisions, and unintended consequences.
This is an oppressive film. Director Matt Reeves (returning to the director’s chair), and Writers Mark Bomback and Reeves ensure that the audience feels the oppressive weight the mantle of leadership has thrust upon Caesar’s ample shoulders in this war he did not ask for, does not want, but is forced to wage in order to protect his family. It’s a powerful choice by Reeves and Bomback that many set pieces are small, intimate, and sometimes claustrophobic to emphasize Caesar’s stress and the weight of his choices (both the good and the bad). There are very few large scale set pieces in War for the Planet of the Apes, but the ones that do exist are used to great effect as a result.
The shoe finally moves to the other foot in this film with the apes truly front and center. Humans, which had equal billing in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (and was arguably the focus of Rise of the Planet of the Apes), clearly play a villainous second fiddle here. Only Harrelson’s Colonel McCullough has any real character arc amongst the human characters. There is a tragic backstory to Harrelson’s character that helps to explain his motivations in the film, and it’s delivered via a powerful monologue by Harrelson that garners the brutal colonel some sympathy. But it also commits the cardinal sin of serving as an exposition dump.
The apes have more personality than ever before, and ironically, display far more humanity than the humans do. The emotionally intelligent orangutan, Maurice (Karin Konoval), who has been by Caesar’s side since the beginning through three films, takes on a much more prominent role here. Fairly early on in the film, Caesar, Maurice, Rocket (Terry Notary), and Luca (Michael Adamthwaite) encounter a mute human girl (Amiah Miller), whom the apes eventually dub Nova. Maurice becomes her primary caretaker and she eventually wins over the affections of the other apes, including Caesar who advocated abandoning her to her fate, thanks in part to her own actions, and also in part due to Maurice’s quiet but effective advocacy on her behalf.
Steve Zahn joins the ape cast as Bad Ape. Bad Ape is not a bad ape. He just calls himself that because that’s all he knows when Caesar and his lieutenants encounter him. Zahn is great here. He provides much needed comic relief from the oppressive pressure of the film at just the right times. But Zahn doesn’t just play Bad Ape for laughs. Yes, he’s clumsy. Yes, he’s perhaps too excitable at times. But he’s also generous, kind, caring, and not at all dumb. And Zahn plays those aspects of Bad Ape with a deft touch. In many ways, Bad Ape, Maurice, and Nova, act as the beating heart of the film.
Serkis delivers one final, powerful performance as Caesar. From the unmistakably grim determination in Caesar’s first entrance to the palpable relief in the final moments of the film, Serkis continually reminds us that he is the undisputed master of performance capture acting. Serkis delivers a performance that demonstrates Caesar’s undisputed leadership with the apes as well as his fallibility and how the usually thoughtful Caesar can be driven to dangerous and irrational decisions.
Michael Giacchino delivers a high watermark in film composition. He clearly takes a page from John Williams by creating simple, memorable, and effective musical themes and associating those themes with characters or ideas, what are sometimes called “leitmotifs.” From the lonely, forlorn, and bleak melody in the piano during times of tragedy and loss to the threatening and intimidating theme in the timpani and low brass and strings for Colonel McCullough’s theme, it’s all designed to be memorable without overwhelming the action and the drama on the screen. And Giacchino achieves that goal in spades here.
War for the Planet of the Apes is a terrific sendoff for Serkis’ Caesar. It is a surprisingly intimate and lonely film instead of the big, bombastic film one might expect. Those few bombastic moments are spectacular, however. Amazing acting, terrific direction, excellent cinematography, great visual effects, and a strong score easily overcome a small handful of moments that require Hollywood logic or video game logic to hand wave away.
Directed by Matt Reeves.
Written by Mark Bomback and Matt Reeves.
Starring Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Amiah Miller, Terry Notary, Karin Konoval, Michael Adamthwaite, etc.
8/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING
