War for the Planet of the Apes

They weren't kidding overseas, the third Planet of the Apes is another great spectacle. Matt Reeves continues the tone set by the previous installments and delivers a film that, while nearly two and a half hours long, isn't afraid to slow down and make time for scenes where the characters just sit around, talk, and you find out little details about them that make you worry about them instead of just waiting for the final set-piece. While last time the apes and humans were given similar space, this time it's almost all about Caesar, but Woody Harrelson has enough space to shine next to the digital (and of course amazing-looking) animal characters. I can imagine that the finale, with its slightly unexpected concept, won't quite suit some people, but paradoxically it makes all the ideas that have been hinted at several times throughout the film come through. Overall, War for the Planet of the Apes is exactly what we expected and hoped for. Plus, it confidently references the Charlton Heston version more than once, giving answers to questions one might not have thought to ask. A good and clever blockbuster. There's bloody little of that in cinemas.. (08/16/2017)

Old Man Caesar. I was afraid that the purely war-themed ending wouldn't be dignified enough for this saga of primates and humans, but the opposite is true. It's not just an action ride; it's a multi-genre crossbreed that took my breath away with every change of storytelling spirit. From the almost palpable weight of the experienced leader's fate, through the mental battle of two strong personalities, to the escape, intensified by its unbearable tension. The last chapter even extracts so many emotions from me that I was surprised they were all just for the Planet of the Apes. Thanks to everyone who allowed Matt Reeves to have an impact on the script because War for the Planet of the Apes surpasses the thematically very close Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in everything. (12/30/2017)

Don’t expect any real “war” – that takes about four minutes. The film is a slow, sensitively narrated “wandering” drama focusing on diverse characters and their emotional interactions, of course in perfectly designed natural settings. As in the last The Jungle Book, the motion capture performances of monkeys’ faces completely overshadow the live actors (including Woody Harrelson). The details of rendering their skin/fur are again a bit more technologically advanced than in previous Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Incredible. (07/12/2017)

So, first things first. War for the Planet of the Apes is not the blockbuster of the decade I was hoping for thanks to the emotionally draining trailers and the enthusiastic foreign reviews, it has plenty of logical flaws and especially slow spots where, for example, Rise of the Planet of the Apes didn't have a single one. That said, this is an immensely refreshing and narratively unorthodox tentpole film by Hollywood standards, managing to both comprehensively conclude the overarching storyline regarding the character development of the leader Caesar, as well as bolt on a new series of events to his development, wrapped up in a grimly escalating and quite thoughtful cycle. The western-like first act, which stirs the vengeful appetites of the hitherto valiant Caesar, is absolutely fantastic in its contemplative atmosphere. In the rest, Reeves decently develops and concludes the internal (love vs hate) and external (apes vs humans) conflicts, delivering beautiful visuals and unconventional endings that don't affect the characters, but Mother Nature herself (which nicely underlines what it was about all along), but at the same time the narrative runs out of ammo in places and the prison break, for example, while not losing its fatalism, struggles with logic and believability. To praise the visual effects would be like taking nerds to an IT competition, so I will at least praise the tragicomic character of Bad Ape and the associated voice acting of Steven Zahn, and the casting of a little girl whose every look is worth a thousand words. A worthy conclusion to a great trilogy, although expectations were a bit higher after the deceptive trailers. (07/14/2017)

I'm struck by how many people complain that there is “not enough war" in War for the Planet of the Apes. I, on the other hand, am glad there isn’t. The war scenes that are there are enough for me - they are so suggestive and gritty that I most definitely didn't need more. I am so pleased that the unimaginably cutting-edge effects serve mainly to create 100% believable characters and we can follow their story - especially Caesar's. A story that shows us one of the most heroic film characters of all time (I mean that, deadly serious), deals with humanity and inhumanity, skillfully develops the ideas of the 2011 film (who would have expected it back then?) and gets closer and closer to the 1968 film. I don't have a single reservation about the directing and its atmospheric scenes, I didn't really expect so much emotion from start to finish, in terms of acting it’s top notch (the Colonel and Nova are the only interesting humans, and that is the way it should be) and most importantly, it's still interesting and engaging and epic, though at the same time intimate. And that Michael Giacchino music! (07/15/2017)