War for the Planet of the Apes

Score:  C+

Directed by Matt Reeves
Starring Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn
Running time: 140 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  The rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise, which has been very strong but a little overshadowed by others (superheroes, etc.), gets a finale that sadly does not live up to the prior films. Andy Serkis returns as Caesar and the effects are fantastic, but the film is saddled with a generic set up made worse by a poor script, pacing, and a surprisingly ineffective villain played by Woody Harrelson.  Either go see one of the actually good films in theaters right now, or Netflix the first film, Rise, if you haven't already seen it.


An unstable, dangerous world continues on from this film's predecessor, Dawn, in which the remnants of humanity struggle to survive along with a separate community of super-intelligent apes, led by Caesar (Serkis). A human military group ambushes the apes, but when they are finally defeated, Caesar decides to spare the survivors as a gesture of good faith and attempt to end hostilities.  Unfortunately, the attacking military group was from a rogue group led by the Colonel, who is determined to wipe out the apes.  After suffering another sneak attack, Caesar is infuriated and resolves to get revenge.  While sending the rest of the ape community on a journey to a hopefully safer home, he goes with a small group of trusted friends to kill the Colonel.  Along the way, he learns of a potentially planet-altering development involving the remaining humans, and must decide what he is willing to sacrifice in order to keep his fellow apes safe.

Even more so than the first two films of the new Planet of the Apes trilogy, Rise and Dawn, this film features apes as the main characters.  Once again Andy Serkis, a veteran of motion-capture roles (Lord of the Rings, King Kong, etc.) is the lead as Caesar.  Serkis is so reliably good that it's easy to take him for granted, but he maintains the character so consistently well, from the physical (voice, style of movement) to the emotive.  Beyond the acting, the effects work is outstanding here; I can't think of a single poor frame, and the apes were completely convincing as regular characters (visually, anyway) throughout.  The two other main ape characters are Maurice, a peaceful orangutan who serves as Caesar's advisor; and Bad Ape, a new guy found along the way who can speak like Caesar and provides good comic relief (played by Karin Konoval and Steve Zahn, respectively).  The only notable human character is Woody Harrelson's villain, the Colonel.  Typically Harrelson gives strong, charismatic, unique performances but he's underwhelming here.  There's a lot of show, of course, but I did not feel the menace and danger the role required.

War for the Planet of the Apes retains some of the inherent strengths of its predecessors, but also unfortunately goes off the tracks in other ways resulting in a disappointing finale to the trilogy.  I note first that, like with Rise, I was deceived in a big way by the trailers; for Rise, the surprise was a pleasant one, but it was the other way around for War.  The overall structure of the story combines two very well-worn conventions: a good but embattled leader gets pushed too far and seeks revenge (will he go too far in turn?!), and the evacuation of a threatened community away from barbarians.  If executed well, this straightforward path could have produced a fine film.  And there are certainly strengths to be found; again, the visual effects are phenomenal, and Serkis's Caesar is a great lead (if a bit more generic this time around).  Bad Ape's humor is a very welcome addition, and the twist with the humans is pretty clever, and rather disquieting.  Unfortunately, the film gets bogged down not too far in, as the plot shoots ahead to what is normally a final act scenario - but it's only halfway through. The pacing becomes painful and the events telegraphed and decreasingly interesting.  I was counting on some pretty spectacular action, considering that this is the trilogy finale and Dawn had quite a bit already.  But this one goes out with a whimper, and features one of my pet peeves in being unrealistic even by the measure of its own rules.  Add in the fact that this is way too long at two hours-twenty minutes, and you have a classic letdown.

***

I'm pretty baffled by the critical raves War has been getting - it has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes!!  The film does try to address some more advanced themes than most other blockbusters, but it doesn't do so nearly as well as Rise or Dawn - yet it is better reviewed than either of those.  I had been hoping July 2017 might turn out to be one of the strongest months for movies, with Baby Driver, Spider-Man and Dunkirk preceding it, but War let the others down, just as it did its trilogy predecessors.  I would like to see the entire franchise again over a short period, once this comes on DVD/streaming, and maybe my opinion of it will improve.  Certainly the effects work remains strong.  But if you are a fan of the first two films and are wondering about this last one, I suggest you wait for Netflix.  And if you haven't seen either of the others yet - don't bother at all (there are plenty of superior options in theaters right now; or, if anything, just watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes instead).



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