War For The Planet of the Apes Review (2017)

War For The Planet of the Apes

  It is very rare these days to find a decent trilogy. The most recent one I can think of is the Dark Knight Trilogy. Yet, here we are on our third Planet of the Apes movie, and let me just say, they seem to only be getting better.
  Because it is my job to manage expectations, I should mention before beginning this review that if you are expecting a lot of action and war, you're not going to get it. There is really only one war scene in the entire movie,  and the rest is drama. Now, this isn't a knock on the film at all, it's actually one of the things that make it so riveting.
  Of all the movies, this film is definitely the most ape-centric. Because of this, the audience could have easily been lost. Thankfully, we have a brilliant script and every single ape is a fully developed character. They have goals, desires, fears, and hopes.
  War for the Planet of the Apes is about two groups (apes and humans) in a pretty desperate situation. What is so great about this film is that the bad guys aren't really bad. We understand their point of view and if we were in their position might even back them up. The complexity of the problem makes for a lot of high stakes and internal conflict as well as external. As usual, Andy Serkis brings it, further evolving the character of Caesar and showing us the most vulnerable side of him. He is a flawed character. He does things that aren't always the right thing to do, but that's what makes him feel so human.
  I adore this movie. The score by Michael Giacchino was stunning, the cinematography was gorgeous, the scope of the film felt larger than life, the apes looked incredible. If I were to complain at all, I'd complain that it sometimes lacks in momentum, making it feel slightly overlong. This, however, is just me nitpicking. 10 out of 10 stars for War of the Planet of the Apes. (A Must See)