The Panda

I actually missed all of my trailers for Apes, intentionally too. How does that make you feel? @WrathOfHan@Blankments

Or it's actually Despicable Me 3, he just doesn't want to admit he fell in love with a yellow tater tot screaming banana.

I greatly prefer War because of its ambition, and because it (mostly) executes a unique vision. We need more blockbusters like War, Logan and Deadpool.

Tele's number 1 is King Arthur obviously.

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

You're stretching it. War is fairly excellent, but the other two are 'only' good. It is nice that it's able to be a complete trilogy without a bad installment.

It's to early to try and rank the films from this year, there are still a number of movies that have been released that I want to see, and then there's a lot coming.

I really don't think I can think of a modern blockbuster that attempts the same kind of tone War goes for, except maybe Dawn (and even then not really). It's a really bold move to make your tentpole so subdued. Logan's probably the best comparison, but even that went a little more berserk on the action sequences. That one also was a little more in your face about being angsty, War has that same kind of contention but I don't get angst or depression from it.

It's hard to compare War to other modern blockbusters because it's so different. But if I had to do a top of my head top 10 big budget blockbusters of the decade it'd be (not definitive) 1. Gravity 2. Inside Out 3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens 4. Life of Pi 5. Mad Max: Fury Road 6. Deadpool 7. Guardians of the Galaxy 8. War for the Planet of the Apes 9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 10. Logan

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.

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

I don't know if I'd go back for, it's one of the better blockbusters that's for sure. I may personally prefer Logan or Wonder Woman, but this was the better film of the three.

War For The Planet of the Apes was really solid. It improves on Dawn and makes the best movie of the series. I don't think legs will be spectacular or anything though, it's a slower burn and puts the spectacle on the sideline (which I liked about it).

Comparing it to Children of Men is a very high mark.

More like a B+ movie.

Rise and Dawn are both good but way overrated. I'll see if War continues that trend.

My dad showed me the old horror movies like The Wolfman, Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein and some others when I was like 4. I saw movies like the Terminator and T2, Braveheart and some others when I was like 7 or 8. Kids are tougher than people think. A movie like Spidey should have a 6+ rating.

The MPAA is a complete joke. A movie like Philomena had to be lobbied by Weinstein to get a PG-13 instead of R for some reason.

I think expanding the rating system is the best option. I like the one where it is simply given an age recommendation and age cut-off. Give a system an age rating and a color, green meaning recommended, yellow meaning cautioned, and red being none of this age or below allowed without adult

I liked Jessica Jones and Daredevil (I tried Luke Cage and Iron Fist but stopped after a few episodes), but they were both weakened by their length. Both of them could have been much better than they were if they had maybe 8-9 episodes.

But that tracking was when the Tomatometer was already set in stone

That's true, but compelling, interesting and emotional stories can be told at any length. I've read short stories that were stirring, and then you can have long sprawling stories that are incredibly effective. It depends on the story you're trying to tell.

I agree with this (although I thought Stranger Things was about the right length), it's why I wasn't really complaining when GoT announced seasons 7/8 were going to be shortened seasons. It meant they realized they couldn't tell the story they had left in a forced 10 episode arc (or two of them) and needed something in-between. Season 5 was its weakest season because they were attempting to tell maybe a 7-episode season in 10, the rest fit fairly well. Same with a show like Breaking Bad varying a few of their seasons in length for the right amount of time to tell their story (and season 3 was the weakest, imo, because it felt like it was trying to force the 13 episode arc, while the others didn't).

How can you compare Apes to GoT, if you haven't seen GoT?

We like to call each other casuals, but go onto twitter and see what some of those randoms think are the greatest movies of all time. Their opinions will shock you.