War For the Planet of the Apes (2017)

[dxmatrixdt]

On 7/17/2017 at 5:38 AM, kaijukurt said:

 

Hey same here!!!!

you know they might have been apes.  Maybe half of them.  On the poster it shows a battle gearing up with Apes and the girl vs humans and apes.  That army in all white could have been humans mixed with apes.  However if would have been cooler if it was a sophisticated clan of just apes that already evolved from the North.

[a2k]

18 As, 8 Bs and 1 C. Pretty great reception from BOT members.

[baumer]

8 hours ago, Jay Hollywood said:

 

He killed his son for the human race at that moment he failed not only himself, mankind but it meant his sons death was for nothing. Ceaser thought he had been through enough pain. 

 

Caesar was wrong.

[kaijukurt]

4 hours ago, Matrix4You said:

you know they might have been apes.  Maybe half of them.  On the poster it shows a battle gearing up with Apes and the girl vs humans and apes.  That army in all white could have been humans mixed with apes.  However if would have been cooler if it was a sophisticated clan of just apes that already evolved from the North.

 

I was thinking they would be all hyper-organized apes as well...with all the references to the original movie, I thought they were ready to show us apes in human clothing who were even more organized than Caesar's colony. (Like to show that the apes had indeed usurped humanity at this point) 

[ddddeeee]

All the complaints about the convenient and cloying ending are completely true but I still found it pretty devastating. Maurice crying

 

Considering I don't care for RotK or TDKR I was pretty thrilled with this.

[CaptainJackSparrow]

So is Nova the younger self of the Nova from the original?

[baumer]

6 hours ago, CaptainJackSparrow said:

So is Nova the younger self of the Nova from the original?

 

I don't see how that is possible.

[RobinHood26]

6 hours ago, CaptainJackSparrow said:

So is Nova the younger self of the Nova from the original?

 

No its a different timeline. The original is like 2300 something 

[Hatebox]

Thought it was great. Fox seems to have quietly become the master studio of bleak blockbusters. 

 

The 'funny bits' didn't bother me, my audience lapped them up and they didn't take away from the more serious scenes. Yeah, the ending was convenient but I liked that the human race ended because it was at war with itself, not the apes. I'm sure many didn't see that coming.

[4815162342]

Pretty good. Have it below Dawn though.

 

Some of the plot beats felt far too forced and convenient, you could tell the filmmakers really wanted to get things to a certain kind of ending.

[RobinHood26]

Liked Dawn more

 

B (85)

[Webslinger]

I liked this one a little bit more than Dawn. For any complaints about this one being slow, I actually felt that its pacing was more fitting than that of Dawn, which ran into a rather obvious "down" stretch when the humans were healing Caesar. I didn't feel like there was any such point in War.

 

More than anything else, I was impressed with how this franchise shifted more and more toward focusing the majority of screen time on the apes. It felt like a fitting and creatively organic shift over the course of the trilogy.

[Blankments]

War for the Planet of the Apes completes the story of Serkis's greatest creation, Caesar, in the epic he has always deserved. Seeping with ambition and emotion, Reeves refines his direction in a way that is both stylish and invisible. He doesn't draw attention to his own direction, letting the story of the apes never be distracted by needless flash. The story here is breathtaking, a riveting tale about the dueling forces of humanity and savagery. Giacchino's score matches the story, being truly exceptional in how it builds from previous films and also feels like its own beast.

 

Serkis delivers his strongest performance yet, deftly applying raw emotion and true understanding to Caesar. You never once think you are watching a CGI-creation. Harrelson and Miller both deliver the first memorable human characters in this franchise, and the rest of the apes all stand out in ways never before. The effects have never been better, and although the third act might get a bit over-the-top, the distinctly subdued nature of the film is a relief compared to other recent blockbusters.

 

War for the Planet of the Apes concludes the most underrated blockbuster trilogy of this century in spectacular fashion, delivering the best film yet thanks to the strong emotion and startling setpieces all anchored by Andy Serkis's marvelous acting prowess. A stunning achievement in today's blockbuster landscape. A

[nick64]

My review of War for the Planet of the Apes:

https://grabyourseat.wordpress.com/2017/07/27/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-film-review/

 

One of the biggest surprises of 2011 was that Rise of the Planet of the Apes was actually a good movie. Director Rupert Wyatt was able to take a 40+ year old concept, update it to fit the modern environment, and overcome the stigma of Tim Burton’s terrible 2001 Planet of the Apes remake to make a truly entertaining and smart blockbuster. 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was even better, mixing the impressive mo-cap work of Rise with an even stronger and deeper story with thought-provoking themes. 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes, once again directed by Dawn’s Matt Reeves, carries the burden of capping the trilogy on a good note. After seeing it, I can officially say that the Planet of the Apes reboot is one of the best film trilogies of all time.

 

War picks up two years after where Dawn ended, with the colony of highly intelligent apes at war with the small military of humans who have survived the lethal virus released in Rise. Ape leader Caesar (Andy Serkis) never wanted the war to begin in the first place and attempts to negotiate peace between the two sides. However, human leader Colonel McCullough (Woody Harrelson) and his men draw a line that Caesar can’t ignore, prompting him to seek personal vengeance on the Colonel that will determine the fate of the planet once and for all.

 

From the bat, it barely needs to be stated at this point that the film is a technical masterpiece. Dawn was able to improve on the already strong visual effects of Rise, and War continues the trend. The apes have been digitally rendered so perfectly that every piece of fur on their body seems 100% real. And the motion capture performances of the cast can not be ignored. Serkis’s role as Caesar has been praised in both previous films, but he truly steps up to the plate and carries the picture on his own in War. If the Academy were ever to begin recognizing mo-cap performers as Oscar-worthy actors, now is the perfect time, as Serkis captures all of the pain, anger, desperation, fears, etc. of Caesar in his most complex appearance yet.

 

Great effects can only get you so far, though, so what makes the Planet of the Apes series so magnificent is its thought-provoking story and character work. Don’t go into War for the Planet of the Apes letting the title fool you. This isn’t a film filled to the brim with cool ape v. human battles. There are one or two, which are certainly awesome, but this film captures the other aspects of war: family, death, suffering, anger, desperation, confinement, oppression. You will feel for both sides. The series has brilliantly set you up to want the apes to beat the humans, but they don’t sacrifice the human motivation. McCollough isn’t without his own chilling backstory, and Harrelson is great at making you feel his desperation within his hard and cold exterior.

 

Both previous Apes movies had great effects and great storytelling, so what sets this one apart is how it is able to bring its characters to new places. As previously stated, Caesar is truly front and center in this movie. Rise and Dawn showed Caesar’s great heart, strong leadership, and ability to trust, but almost made him seem too devine. Matt Reeves is smart enough to give him true, and very human, flaws in War. Something that McCullough does early on in the film unleashes a side of Caesar we haven’t seen before. At one point, a character compares him to Koba (Toby Kebbell) from the previous film, and Caesar struggles with how true this statement might be. This turns War into a character study, and Caesar becomes an even more compelling character than he already was. Other apes, such as Maurice (Karin Konoval) and Rocket (Terry Notary), Caesar’s two best friends, have bigger roles as well. We see Maurice show his fatherly side with a young human girl (Amiah Miller), and Rocket gets the chance to prove just how loyal to Caesar he really is. The apes feel more human than the actual humans at this point.

 

All that said, War isn’t a completely perfect movie. It suffers the main flaw of the other two: being slightly predictable and formulaic. However, where each of them, including War now, have succeeded is in how they are able to apply the familiar formula in such a unique and compelling way that you really won’t even mind it. The only other potential flaw to be found is “Bad Ape” (Steve Zahn), the series’s first comic relief character. He is actually very funny, and you may appreciate him adding some lightheartedness to the admittedly grim proceedings. However, if you’re like me, you may just find that he takes you out of the moment. War for the Planet of the Apes is not to be viewed lightly. It’s a very heavy film, but one that is near perfect at capturing the horrors of war and the weaknesses of human (and ape) nature. With characters and a story that you will feel instantly invested in, flawless direction, and Western-inspired visuals that are simply jaw dropping, War manages to stick the landing so gracefully that the new Planet of the Apes trilogy can already comfortably secure its place in the upper echelons of film history.

 

Grade: 9/10

[Avatree]

On ‎23‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 1:00 AM, CaptainJackSparrow said:

So is Nova the younger self of the Nova from the original?

 

On ‎23‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 7:07 AM, Jay Hollywood said:

 

No its a different timeline. The original is like 2300 something 

 

The original movie is set in 4000something, this trilogy is set in the current day. The references in this movie are just nods to the original series. The two series are not actually connected.

[Avatree]

I watched it again last night, really really liked it although I do think it's probably too long considering not that much actually happens in the film.

 

It's a shame it's not doing better but it's quite a meaty, heavy film. It really pushes the limits of a 12A rating though - and I don't know why they didn't go for a 15 (R rating) given that this will appeal to precisely 0 families with young children.

 

The ending was fine, showing that the human race destroyed itself, the apes didn't do it. Although at first I was slightly disappointed there wasn't more of a battle between apes and humans, it makes sense.

I like the parallels to the original and some of the symbolism. It's still nowhere near as complex as the original movies but regardless, it's endlessly better than 99% of stuff that comes into the multiplex. I am glad it's possible to make films like this. This trilogy has been brilliant.

Edited July 27, 2017 by Manchester by the Tree

[BOOYAH SUCKAS]

Its an extremely well made movie, excellent performances, great soundtrack, amazing special effects but it doesn't coalesce into an enjoyable movie. Plus there are some obvious pacing issues, and there wasn't really much of a "War". But I have the utmost respect for what Matt Reeves has created, he has a taken a B movie concept and has been able to create a serious movie with real emotional stakes. 

I'll give it a B

Rise- A-

Dawn B+

 

[Brainbug]

Loved every single second of it. The stunning cinematogrphy, the dark tone, the perfect CGI, the Story in itself.

 

This is a modern masterpiece. Movies dont get much better than that.

[dashrendar44]

On 22/07/2017 at 11:03 PM, ddddeeee said:

All the complaints about the convenient and cloying ending are completely true but I still found it pretty devastating. Maurice crying

 

Considering I don't care for RotK or TDKR I was pretty thrilled with this.

 

Yeah best trilogy hands down since Toy Story. Above LOTR and Nolan Batman's trilogy too easily.

 

I love the little nuance right in the title. It's "War FOR the Planet of the Apes" meaning it is about mankind tearing itself trying to claim back what is already the planet of apes more than waging a simplistic war between mankind vs apes which was Dawn. (As War showcases, both sides are tore down because of personal stakes and individual experiences painting a whole shade of grey spectrum of entangled moral quanderies and emotional stakes evading manicheism). Brilliant bookending of a trilogy where the stakes feel epic in scale and yet intimate like an post-apocalyptical western that takes its sweet time to let the direness sinks in, a slow burner sketching the protagonists through interactions and actions (like the interesting dynamic between the gorilla guard and Caesar, Caesar's hallucinations). Also this is the only movie series in which the CGI characters (Maurice ) upstage every single flesh and blood actors that feel like weak cartoons in comparison. That would be my only pet peeve.

 

Andy Serkis created an all time great character in the span of three movies that, imo, is superior in every way to Gollum, his humanity shining through trials and struggles, his intensity, internal turmoil, moral complexity, most of the time conveyed only with facial expressions and body language. Give WETA the VFX Oscars and 2 retroactive ones because they were robbed each time.

 

A.

Edited August 3, 2017 by dashrendar44

[CoolioD1]

dug this to an extent. was really caught off guard by how dumb it got in the second half. felt like a "we've got an ending for this shit and we're not really concerned with how we get there" type of deal.