War For the Planet of the Apes (2017)

[baumer]

Discuss

[Gavin Feng]

who can tell me what's the last picture? I'm curious if I missed something...

[Tower]

After all the hype about it being the best of the trilogy I'm somewhat disappointed, not because it is a bad movie, but I just didn't like it as much as Rise and Dawn.

 

On a technical level this movie looks great and the acting is great, and so is the soundtrack, and for the first half I thought this could be as good as Dawn. Unfortunately the ending didn't quite work for me.

For a series that is about how smart the apes and particularly Caesar, it didn't really show here and the apes ended up being saved by a series of lucky events. Caesar himself gets captured immediately when he gets to the base, and doesn't come up with a plan for escape himself. The other apes do but even they needed to randomly fall into the tunnel do anything, then they needed the girl to just stroll into the base without anyone noticing (How did this work when the base should be on high alert expecting enemies and yet Nova just walks in), to have a big pool of oil conveniently placed so you could blow everything up with a grenade, and culminating in the giant snowslide that got rid of the whole army in a second.

 

Also the one plan the apes came up with themselves didn't really make sense to me. The guard has faeces thrown at him so he opens the gate and walks in on his own with no one else covering him into a cage with hundreds of apes to start looking for the one who threw it at him, even though a bunch of apes could just pounce on him, and he should be really scared of this cage full of sworn enemy apes that they have been fighting for years.

 

Rise: 8/10

Dawn: 9/10

War: 7/10

[kaijukurt]

4 hours ago, Tower said:

For a series that is about how smart the apes and particularly Caesar, it didn't really show here and the apes ended up being saved by a series of lucky events. Caesar himself gets captured immediately when he gets to the base, and doesn't come up with a plan for escape himself. The other apes do but even they needed to randomly fall into the tunnel do anything, then they needed the girl to just stroll into the base without anyone noticing (How did this work when the base should be on high alert expecting enemies and yet Nova just walks in), to have a big pool of oil conveniently placed so you could blow everything up with a grenade, and culminating in the giant snowslide that got rid of the whole army in a second.

 

 

I liked the movie, but yeah this is the main reason why I give Rise & Dawn the edge over this.

 

I thought going into the movie, that this would be Caesar's defining moment..in the sense that he would do anything it takes to save his colony.

 

But in a way, its Maurice & Rocket who deserve most of the credit for getting them out of there, and Caesar happens to save the apes from the gunfire since he just notices the situation after going to the Colonel's base to (try to) finish him off. 

 

Most of the movie Caesar tries to accomplish his own personal vendetta but its the moments that all the other apes see (him standing up for the Orang-utan & him tossing the grenade) that immortalizes him in ape history.

 

So in short Caesar seemed to be more focused on his personal vendetta and happened to find himself where he could stand up for his fellow apes.

 

It really feels different from Rise and Dawn wherein Caesar is the driving force behind the Golden Gate Bridge standoff and in the human diplomacies/Koba confrontation.

 

Caesar seemed more like an "ape hero" in those films.

 

Its not a big fault, but it just came across as something very odd to me, now that I think about it.  

 

[Kvikk Lunsj]

16 hours ago, Gavin Feng said:

who can tell me what's the last picture? I'm curious if I missed something...

It is suppose to be were the original Planet of the Apes takes place. 

[Gavin Feng]

6 hours ago, Tower said:

After all the hype about it being the best of the trilogy I'm somewhat disappointed, not because it is a bad movie, but I just didn't like it as much as Rise and Dawn.

 

On a technical level this movie looks great and the acting is great, and so is the soundtrack, and for the first half I thought this could be as good as Dawn. Unfortunately the ending didn't quite work for me.

For a series that is about how smart the apes and particularly Caesar, it didn't really show here and the apes ended up being saved by a series of lucky events. Caesar himself gets captured immediately when he gets to the base, and doesn't come up with a plan for escape himself. The other apes do but even they needed to randomly fall into the tunnel do anything, then they needed the girl to just stroll into the base without anyone noticing (How did this work when the base should be on high alert expecting enemies and yet Nova just walks in), to have a big pool of oil conveniently placed so you could blow everything up with a grenade, and culminating in the giant snowslide that got rid of the whole army in a second.

 

Also the one plan the apes came up with themselves didn't really make sense to me. The guard has faeces thrown at him so he opens the gate and walks in on his own with no one else covering him into a cage with hundreds of apes to start looking for the one who threw it at him, even though a bunch of apes could just pounce on him, and he should be really scared of this cage full of sworn enemy apes that they have been fighting for years.

 

Rise: 8/10

Dawn: 9/10

War: 7/10

And I don't believe Apes 3 WOM from audience will be that good. DOM def will decrease, China may do the same.

[Lizzy]

Gave it an A. Perfect end to a super strong trilogy with enough parts seeded in with references to the original films. Great stuff. 

[WrathOfHan]

The first two acts of War are fucking incredible. It's tense, heartbreaking, and has a kickass score by Giacchino. My only gripe with this stretch of the film is Bad Ape, who feels incredibly out of place. This was a huge component in why the third act shit the bed for me. Stuff like Caesar's death and Nova walking into the prison willy nilly was handled so fucking poorly, and the third act is a mish mash of tones. "You like Bad Ape, don't you? Have a funny breakout scene!" NEXT SCENE: Woody Harrelson kills himself. Shifts like this are so jarring and really took me out of the film. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it's definitely the worst of the trilogy. 8/10 | B

[That One Girl]

This movie gets an A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

That might not even be enough pluses.

[Water Bottle]

It's a pretty fantastic production. It's more engaging in my mind than the other Apes movies: turns out focusing almost entirely on the Apes was a good call! Matt Reeves is simply a fantastic director and his work simply keeps on shining.

 

A-

[The Panda]

I think it'd be more effective if I re-watched Rise and Dawn prior to it.

 

I thought it was brilliantly done and harrowing in its nature.  Thematically, it has more meat than nearly any major blockbuster to come out recently, although I may be able to think of a few exceptions.

 

The cinematography is gorgeous, the blend and mixture of it works really well for the tone of the movie.  I also like how all of the spectacle/action scenes are downplayed with the score and melancholic nature of it all.  It makes the title almost misleading, as it's not really about the War, it's about the effects of the war.  It displays the different kinds of brutality of war in different scenes, from showing how fathers go to seek revenge on their sons and end up killing fathers of other children.  And each scene offers other insights of that nature from the prisoners of war, to the mentality of treason, and so on.

 

The way the thematic material is displayed is the best part about the film.

 

From an editing perspective, it is a bit jarring.  It'll flip to quickly, instaneously from a brutality or downbeat scene to a joke and lighter nature.  It makes it a bit tonally inconsistent.

 

I also thought this could have been better as an R rated film, it has to tread lightly over a few of the brutality aspects that would have been more impactful if they could have actually shown the harshness a bit.

 

The visual effects are astounding, like they were with Dawn, they're some of the most lifelike CGI creatures you'll see on screen. I'm also definitely in the "Give Andy Serkis an honorary Oscar for his mo-cap work" camp.  

 

The score is brilliant by Giacchino, and one of the better blockbuster scores.  I also enjoyed the throwbacks in the score, and the film itself to the original film.  It really sets the ground for it to become the Planet of the Apes.

 

It's the best of the trilogy, and it has a lot of heart and thought put into it.

 

A

Edited July 15, 2017 by A Panda of Ice and Fire

[The Panda]

21 hours ago, kaijukurt said:

 

I liked the movie, but yeah this is the main reason why I give Rise & Dawn the edge over this.

 

I thought going into the movie, that this would be Caesar's defining moment..in the sense that he would do anything it takes to save his colony.

 

But in a way, its Maurice & Rocket who deserve most of the credit for getting them out of there, and Caesar happens to save the apes from the gunfire since he just notices the situation after going to the Colonel's base to (try to) finish him off. 

 

Most of the movie Caesar tries to accomplish his own personal vendetta but its the moments that all the other apes see (him standing up for the Orang-utan & him tossing the grenade) that immortalizes him in ape history.

 

So in short Caesar seemed to be more focused on his personal vendetta and happened to find himself where he could stand up for his fellow apes.

 

It really feels different from Rise and Dawn wherein Caesar is the driving force behind the Golden Gate Bridge standoff and in the human diplomacies/Koba confrontation.

 

Caesar seemed more like an "ape hero" in those films.

 

Its not a big fault, but it just came across as something very odd to me, now that I think about it.  

 

 

I think that's actually a plus for the film.  I liked that the other Apes romanticized Caesar's actions as a hero/savior, but he was really just as flawed and self-interested as the rest of them.  It speaks truly of our own society, we romanticize heroes and leaders as well, but they normally aren't as great as we pretend they are.

[That One Girl]

3 hours ago, WrathOfHan said:

The first two acts of War are fucking incredible. It's tense, heartbreaking, and has a kickass score by Giacchino. My only gripe with this stretch of the film is Bad Ape, who feels incredibly out of place. This was a huge component in why the third act shit the bed for me. Stuff like Caesar's death and Nova walking into the prison willy nilly was handled so fucking poorly, and the third act is a mish mash of tones. "You like Bad Ape, don't you? Have a funny breakout scene!" NEXT SCENE: Woody Harrelson kills himself. Shifts like this are so jarring and really took me out of the film. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it's definitely the worst of the trilogy. 8/10 | B

 

How was Nova walking into the prison poorly handled?  It was clearly shown how she was easily able to get into there.  It's not like there was much keeping outsiders from entering.  Also, that one scene with Bad Ape still had suspense in it.  The moments of humor were very brief in it, and it was clearly just done to make the mood slightly lighter, while still maintaining its dark tone.  Even with the scene being mildly amusing, it still manages to have the dark and dreary tone over the film, and in particular the third act.

 

Also, I have no idea why you think Caesar's death was poorly handled.  That shit killed me emotionally.

[WrathOfHan]

4 minutes ago, That One Guy said:

 

How was Nova walking into the prison poorly handled?  It was clearly shown how she was easily able to get into there.  It's not like there was much keeping outsiders from entering.  Also, that one scene with Bad Ape still had suspense in it.  The moments of humor were very brief in it, and it was clearly just done to make the mood slightly lighter, while still maintaining its dark tone.  Even with the scene being mildly amusing, it still manages to have the dark and dreary tone over the film, and in particular the third act.

 

Also, I have no idea why you think Caesar's death was poorly handled.  That shit killed me emotionally.

Caesar's death feel obligatory. It's just kind of like "Oh yeah, I have this wound and I'm gonna die. Bye!" The whole execution of it feels so rushed.

[That One Girl]

Just now, WrathOfHan said:

Caesar's death feel obligatory. It's just kind of like "Oh yeah, I have this wound and I'm gonna die. Bye!" The whole execution of it feels so rushed.

 

I don't see how it was rushed.  It was very emotional, and the scene kept on building up to it.  It was very sad.  Giacchino's score makes it all the more emotional.

[The Panda]

I would have preferred to see Caesar's death handled better.  It and the editing problems keep it from an A+ for me.

[aabattery]

Jesus Christ that poor horse when they were chasing Bad Ape. Rocket jumped up on the horse with the fucking gorilla on it. I'm surprised the poor thing didn't collapse right there.

 

Anyway, this was pretty darn good. Few niggles kept it from being truly great but it's an excellent way to cap the trilogy. 

 

Also, has anyone said The Ape Escape yet? Cae-sus died for our sins? Monkey movies are great for puns. 

[That One Girl]

Just now, aabattery said:

Also, has anyone said The Ape Escape yet? Cae-sus died for our sins? Monkey movies are great for puns. 

 

Well,

 

[aabattery]

2 minutes ago, That One Guy said:

 

Well,

 

 

His pun game is much better than mine.

[That One Girl]

2 minutes ago, aabattery said:

 

His pun game is much better than mine.

 

Yep.  You're going to really have to make better ape puns, or it'll drive you bananas knowing you're not the best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(hey, at least you're better than me)