REVIEW: “War for the Planet of the Apes” does not monkey around

“War for the Planet of the Apes” is the latest installment of the rebooted “Planet of the Apes” series, premiering July 14.

The movie picks up two years after “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” Caesar, played by Andy Serkis, and Maurice, played by Karin Konoval, led their ape comrades to the safety of a new home hidden away from the threat of humans. The peace doesn’t last long when a group of soldiers stumble across the apes’ new sanctuary.

Through a series of escalating misunderstandings and aggressive acts, Caesar and Maurice are forced to defend their ape brothers and sisters once again.

Serkis, best known for his performance as Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, delivers an emotive performance as the film’s lead ape, Caesar.

Woody Harrelson plays the film’s main antagonist, the Colonel. Harrelson delivers a solid performance, but the character at times feels shallow, like a token villain. As the Colonel is developed as a character, his motives make more sense.

Caesar and Maurice are joined by two additions: Amiah Miller as Nova, a young human girl representing the good side of humanity; and Steve Zahn as Bad Ape, a zoo chimpanzee that can talk like Caesar. Nova fills an essential role as the human that the apes trust – a role present in each film in series. Bad Ape offers comic relief and an outsider ape perspective.

What stands out in the film, as with the other two films in the series, are the apes’ expressions. Performance Capture suits mapped the actors’ movements and expressions in real time making the apes appear real and almost human.

Unlike many summer action blockbusters, “War” tastefully blends digital graphics with real scenes. With the exception of a few large action sequences, it is easy to forget that the apes aren’t real.

Set in the Pacific Northwest during the winter, the movie utilizes the orange and teal color scheme that is so popular in modern cinema. While it offers vivid contrast during firefights, the intensity of the blues sometimes drowns out snow scenes. However, by reducing the overall saturation and vibrancy of the colors, the filmmakers create a sense of post-apocalyptic realism that works with the color scheme.

Color schemes and computer graphics aside, what makes “War” a great film is the attention to story development.

The main theme is carried on from the first two movies – “apes together strong”. Throughout the series, humans are wrongly differentiated from apes. Humans are apes, just like chimpanzees and orangutans are apes.

Caesar represents a savior to the new, evolved ape society. He led them to transcend their animalistic nature. In the wild, chimpanzees are warlike and vicious, attacking neighboring groups and brutally murdering them. Caesar’s apes are starkly different, working together instead of against each other. The apes repeatedly say, “Ape not kill ape.”

The humans, on the other hand, are the real animals in this movie, with the exception of Nova. The tables are turned because the humans are dehumanized while the apes are humanized. The greatest achievement of the movie is its ability to completely transport the audience into the ape perspective, which makes them feel like part of Caesar’s quest.

All praise aside, the word “war” in the title of the movie seems misplaced. It is as if the writers wrote the script, then producers told them to add the “war” to the title in the middle of production. Perhaps “Struggle for the Planet of the Apes” would’ve been a more apt name.

Overall, “War for the Planet of the Apes” successfully adds to the established story and is arguably the best movie in the trilogy. Caesar and his ragtag band of freedom fights are sure to win the hearts of audiences worldwide this summer. 4/5

Also published on Medium.