Remember when this franchise was somehow non-existent to our generation? Remember that awful Tim Burton reboot that is somehow planted into our minds that we cannot let it escape from us because he is a visual director? Well, thanks to Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves, the franchise is back as being two strong chapters of a trilogy now that this movie has been made. Rise was laughed off as a joke when trailers came out but when the movie was released, mostly, everybody was surprised by the amount of action and warmth that the story offered. Dawn was even better. Now, with War, this movie has the tricky challenge and potential to close out a trilogy that cements Caesar's arc as a great epic and now having seen it, this is a visually stunning and poetic movie that is thoughtful and suspenseful. You can make it the case that now this trilogy is one of the best trilogies ever made.
It is three years later after the events of Dawn and the apes have held off a faction of U.S. soldiers. The movie starts out as Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his legion of apes are still at war with a military group called Alpha-Omega. The team of Alpha-Omega soldiers are helped out by an ape named Red (Ty Olsson), whom the soldiers refer to as "Donkey". Red was loyal to the now-deceased Koba (Toby Kebbell) from the last movie. After the little battle, Caesar lets the captured Red and soldiers go as they send their base the message that the apes want to be peaceful.
Because one of the apes has defected to the humans' side, a tragedy has struck out. Caesar is off to set out to get his revenge against an evil Colonel (Woody Harrelson). Caesar and his loyal companions, Maurice, Rocket and Luca (Karin Konoval, Terry Notary and Michael Adamthwaite) set off to talk to Alpha-Omega's leader. On their journey, they find a mute girl named Nova (Amiah Miller) lying in bed after her father is killed. Maurice provides her with a doll and adopts her as one of his own. As the apes are on their journey, they encounter an abandoned ape called Bad Ape (Steve Zahn), who had lived in a zoo and guides them to the base.
Caesar observes that the ape clan has been captured and has been forced to work on a wall. He comes face-to-face with Colonel McCullough and becomes angry but indecisive as to how he should save his species. Caesar and the apes are forced to work under the guidance of the military, despite being starved and dehydrated. Caesar and some ages try to find a way to escape and also take the military down once and for all.
I am going to warn y'all that if you are looking forward to this movie, you are going to be somewhat fooled by the title but the movie will make sense if you read the title very closely. This movie is being marketed as highlighting a big war between apes and humans. It is somewhat that but it is an internal and emotional war for Caesar as he wants to save his ape species from harm and provide a better life. It is draining for him because he, as a leader, has to make the tough decisions by not letting revenge totally interfere with him.
The movie is a reflective and observational story as to how humanity is being represented more years into the future and it has gotten worse. It is now every man for himself as they do not care about the environment or surroundings but to fight as who will be the prime rulers of the planet. The hatred drives them down to shreds. It has some great easter eggs that trace back to the original 1968 movie that makes a lot of sense. Also, as I was watching this movie, it was reminiscent of some movies such as The Great Escape, Schindler's List and The Ten Commandments as it offers a tactile environment of harsh conditions that both humans and apes have to suffer through. This is a "popcorn movie" with emotional weight and you need to have the patience to have the filmmakers fulfill Caesar's storyline and the apes' journey.
Andy Serkis, wow. I think it is time for the Academy to recognize his achievements as an actor in his motion capture performances. He delivers his best performance as Caesar as he has to battle his personal demons with his title role as a leader for the apes. His character makes bad decisions that impact his people. Steve Zahn is another standout as Bad Ape who offers both emotional weight and some much-needed comic ability. It could have easily been a one-dimensional trope that delivers laughs but not he is not an annoying burden. Woody Harrelson evokes a character similar to Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now that delivers speeches that is now given up to the darkness of humanity and offers a backstory that is quite haunting but necessary. He is a no-nonsense character that does not become one-dimensional.
God bless director Matt Reeves for creating this bleak and fantastic movie. If I were to choose between Dawn and War as the best movie of the rebooted trilogy, I'd still go Dawn because War offers one little moment near the end that is a bit too convenient and that is how far I'll go on that criticism but I am nitpicking. This is an engaging, emotionally invested story that centers the characters onto the whole journey that is full of joy but also pain because of the war that is going on internally and externally. This chapter is not about man vs. ape, it is about Caesar's internal war with himself as both an ape and a leader. How can he make the apes' future whole once and for all? It is a biblical representation as to how the story will finish for the apes with such great craft. I commend not just Reeves' direction but also Michael Seresin's cinematography and Michael Giacchino's score that drives the movie forward with such depth. This is a blockbuster that is cerebral and thought-provoking and it may cement itself as the prime candidate of the best movie of the summer. It could potentially wind up on my "best-of-the-year" list.
****
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