WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (2017) - Amazingly somber, hauntingly beautiful

War for the Planet of the Apes is the last installment in the Apes trilogy, directed by Matt Reeves and starring Andy Serkis as Caesar, Woody Harrelson, Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Steve Zahn, and Amiah Miller. The film follows Caesar as he hunts down the Colonel--the leader of a paramilitary army called Alpha Omega--in order to finally end the conflict between humans and apes for freedom, for family, and for the planet.

Ever since Rise was released in 2011, this trilogy has been my favorite on-going movie franchise, and it's a bittersweet feeling to see it end. 2011's Rise gave us a surprisingly good reboot of a 40-year old movie franchise that had a lot of heart. 2014's Dawn was nearly a masterpiece, giving us a beautiful tale that questions humanity, society, and the nature of good and evil with one of the greatest villains in recent cinematic history. Now, 2017 gives us War, which delivers on a fantastic conclusion to what will go down as one of the best cinematic franchises ever.

Typically movie trilogies will have two great movies with the third movie being either just okay or plain bad. Examples include: the original Star Wars trilogy, the Alien trilogy, the Dark Knight trilogy, the Godfather trilogy, the Matrix trilogy (although the second movie really wasn't that good either), the X-Men trilogy, the Spider-Man trilogy. Very few survive the "curse of the third movie" and actually deliver on a great conclusion (Return of the King being a prime example). Fortunately, this movie absolutely delivers and joins that very, very short list of strong third movies that I highly recommend everyone to see.

The Story

The most important thing to know is that the title of the movie is easily a misdirect. Despite the name and the trailers marketing it as such, this movie is NOT a war film. There is no epic final showdown between man versus ape to determine the future of the planet. There isn't even any battle between them with the exception of a small skirmish at the beginning of the movie. The "war" in War for the Planet of the Apes is not an external war, but rather an internal one within Caesar as he fights to keep himself from being overcome by his own hatred.

The movie really goes in a direction you would not expect, and in the entire time I had no clue what could happen next. What actually happens will likely be disappointing for some, but I absolutely loved it. There isn't a single shot or scene or character or story beat that doesn't serve a purpose directly in Caesar's battle with himself. The movie never goes to truly epic proportions like you'd expect, but rather everything is much more subtle and subdued and human.

It took me longer that it usually would for me to write this review because I really had to take my time and think about the movie, and I find that the more I think about it, the more I love it. War as as much heart as Rise and as much meaning as Dawn, and while it just barely falls behind Dawn, it still makes for an incredibly moving experience.

The Characters

One of the biggest problems of the past two movies in the trilogy was that the human characters were never as interesting as the apes. This movie fixed that by instead focusing almost completely on the apes, specifically on Caesar. War is Caesar's movie through and through, following his own journey as he battles with his inner demons.

I had always loved Caesar since the time he appeared on the big screen six years ago, and I was absolutely floored at what the filmmakers did with his character in this movie. The levels of depth and nuance that go into this CGI monkey in these three movies far surpass some of the best known characters in film history. I can't go into more details for fear of spoilers, but the great and powerful Caesar we've seen in the previous movies is brought down to his lowest point in here and it is incredibly brutal to watch. But it's necessary for him to grow in the way he does. Watching the entire trilogy over again is an amazing experience because you can see how he grows and changes over his life from his innocent, happy youth to his graying, battered, and defeated self in his war against man.

It's common for motion capture actors to be overlooked by the Academy Awards and the Oscars because there is always the argument of whether or not it's actually "real" acting if CGI does half the work. However, Andy Serkis is almost undeniably brilliant in his role as Caesar and I will be personally offended if he does not receive at least a nomination. Motion capture means that every little action, every nuance and inflection in his voice and face is what we see and hear as Caesar in the movie. Tremendous work like his should be rewarded.

The Colonel is a good character that doesn't really get that much screen time to become a fully realized villain, but that's excusable since the crux of the movie is spent focused on Caesar instead. Besides, it would be near impossible to make a villain better than Koba from the last movie, and the filmmakers know it. He does have one exposition scene that explains who he is and why he does what he does, which works well enough to make him more into a three-dimensional character rather than just a typical "evil army bad man muahahaha".

The other apes are great additions as well, even if they don't get to shine like Caesar does. Maurice the orangutan has always been a personal favorite of mine (after Caesar of course) since his introduction, and Bad Ape is a surprising standout, providing some much needed comic relief. To make sure we don't think that ape = good and human = bad, we also have Red (AKA "Donkey"), a gorilla who is working under the Colonel, and Nova, a young girl who is essentially adopted by Maurice.

Visuals and Music

If you're not a fan of this movie or this trilogy, you cannot deny that it has some of the best CGI ever. This film is masterpiece in its visual effects, giving us stunningly realistic apes owed both to the amazing motion capture team and the CGI team. All visual effects people know that the best form of CGI is when it's not noticed. As I watched this movie, I had to forcibly remind myself multiple times that these apes are not real because they LOOK SO AUTHENTIC. Nothing in the images I've put in this review would make you believe that any of it wasn't 100% other than the fact that you know logically real apes cannot pose that way.

In addition to its jaw-dropping visuals, the movie also has great cinematography and music. Some of the last scenes incorporated excellent cinematography and music (as well as lack of music) wonderfully to give a truly beautiful and emotional finale.

Final Verdict

War for the Planet of the Apes is a truly beautiful end to an amazing trilogy, bringing us the emotional conclusion to Caesar's story. The film is a character study--not a war movie--of who Caesar really is, and reaches almost masterpiece-levels of quality in its characters, its story, and its jaw-dropping visual effects. The movie really isn't for everybody. If you're looking for an action-packed summer blockbuster, you're sadly mistaken. But if you're looking for an epic, emotional conclusion to one of the greatest film trilogies ever made, there is no better film to watch.

Score: A

- "Apes together strong."