The much anticipated War for the Planet of the Apes, like Dawn, is directed by Matt Reaves, and stars Woody Harrelson, as well as Andy Serkis once again reprising his role as Caesar. I think the previous two films in this gritty reboot of the ‘Planet of the Apes’ franchise are both brilliant, standing individually but also linking together very well. Now, after the events of Rise and Dawn, a new threat emerges in the form of a brutal Colonel (Woody Harrelson), who leads an army of humans into a conflict with the apes, and the outcome of this epic battle will determine the fate of both species and the planet.
Firstly, this film is technologically and technically incredible . The apes look more amazing than ever before, and the cinematography and editing in general compliments the apes so perfectly as it gives them such breath-taking backdrops and environments to interact with. Pretty much every frame in this film is picturesque in some way. From the claustrophobia of the muddy caves to the vastness of the snowy mountains, War is a clinic in how to create beautiful shots and present incredible visual imagery. And of course, the motion capture work must be praised. As expected, all actors involved in this did a brilliant job, including Steve Zahn as the comedic relief Bad Ape, but Andy Serkis’ Caesar was unsurprisingly the stand out, taking the character to much darker, conflicting places than we’ve ever seen before. We can see the pain and suffering on his face in every movement and expression, and it is a truly magnificent performance, that could certainly warrant an Oscar nomination in my opinion (something which I recently talked more in depth about here- Should Andy Serkis get an Oscar nomination for his motion capture performances?).
Furthermore, a word has to be said for Michael Giachinno’s haunting score, that was used at exactly the right moments, to sometimes say more words than any amount of dialogue ever could have, and it was more pivotal than you may expect, as a lot of scenes in the film are silent, and involve the apes just signing to one another, and Giachinno’s score beautifully compliments these moments and increases the tension.
I certainly did like the approach the film took, by being much more of a character study rather than an action bonanza. However, while doing so very successfully in parts, on the whole I just feel that it did not delve deep enough into the psyche of Caesar and the pain and confliction he was feeling. Also, although some of the best scenes of the film were the more subdued, dramatic scenes, such as the Colonel and Caesar facing off, I did feel that quite a few scenes slowed the momentum down quite a bit. When I say this, I don’t mean it was because there was a lack of action, as the best scenes were the tense, dramatic, character based ones, but certain scenes felt like they were prolonged for no reason at all, and did not advance the characters or the story in any way. Unfortunately, while there is of course some epic and moving moments, I felt that the story as a whole was surprisingly thin and was stretched out a lot, and that a scenario that a huge chunk of the story is based around, could have been told much more rapidly.
Also, since the film was based so much around Caesar’s quest for revenge, I would have liked an actor of Woody Harrelson’s calibre to have been utilised more. He and Caesar have some amazing scenes where they face off, but since Caesar’s journey of vengeance is solely about actions Woody Harrelson’s character previously took, it would have made more sense I think to give more layers to his character and give him a bit more to do/say, as they were some of the best parts.
Overall, while personally being somewhat disappointed by War for the Planet of the Apes, with it having a much thinner story than I was hoping for, leading to repetition in some plot points, it is still certainly a very solid entry into the franchise. It connects well with the previous films, with some truly amazing moments, beautiful aesthetics, and a sensational central performance from Andy Serkis.
7/10
CinemaStance 