In the previous films, morality and the usual good guys vs bad guys dynamics were largely ambiguous, but here, Reeves and company make it very clear humans are the real monsters in this war for the planet. The scene of Caesar interrupting the whipping of a weak and emaciated orangutan immediately elevates Caesar to a Christ-like Moses figure that must lead his kind on an exodus to a promised land.
Looking down from his ivory tower, he watches like a godly king while the apes labor to rebuild the wall of an abandoned military weapons installation. However, as Caesar soon learns, the repercussions of giving into these emotions is damaging, making victims of those he's responsible for.Ĭlocking in at 140 minutes, the bulk of War for the Planet of the Apes has Caesar and his clan living in captivity under The Colonel's dictatorship-like reign. And as portrayed in this second sequel, this seems truer when feeling the extinction of one's species drawing near and the fight to survive the inevitable becomes a priority. Anger, pride and vengeance can destroy the rational mind, pushing aside wiser decisions and the ability to foresee consequences. It's not until Caesar's conversation with this seemingly indifferent human that he finally recognizes how much alike they are when love is in ruins. He, too, becomes consumed by his rage to see The Colonel dead for inflicting him with pain and suffering. Although the continuously brooding and scowling leader of the ape uprising is haunted by the death of Koba, he also begins to understand the overwhelming narrow-mindedness of the hate that drove Koba. This is seen when the mute orphan Nova (Amiah Miller) and Bad Ape (Steve Zahn) joins Caesar's quest.įor the third and presumably final installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot series, the script co-written by Reeves with Mark Bomback expands on the notion expressed at the end of Dawnwhere Caesar acknowledges the similarities of apes and humans. Whereas predecessors touched on ideas of science run amok, the danger of power, racial tensions and for peace in spite of our differences, War is a character-driven drama focused on the longing for meaningful relationships and bonds, sprinkled with little reminders of the way we treat our ape cousins, other animals and our planet in general. The amazing visuals and jaw-dropping realism of the CG apes are just as much in abundance as the buckets of tears guaranteed by those with a sympathetic heart. Unfortunately, his simple gesture for peace only leads to the deaths of Caesar's wife and son, thus paving way for the plot's central theme while ceaselessly making audiences regret not having a large box of tissues at their side. We're also shown the remorseful face of one gorilla fighting on the side of humans, almost as though regretting his part in the demise of his own kind.Īfterwards, Caesar (another remarkable motion-capture performance by Andy Serkis) makes an appearance and once again, appeals the better half of those humans wanting him dead, which this time comes in the form of a rogue, scarily cold-blooded commander named The Colonel (an excellent Woody Harrelson). The ensuing battle is a distressing spectacle of haunting imagery as it quickly becomes apparent the apes are grossly outgunned.
There's little denying the parallel is perhaps the point director Matt Reeves ('Let Me In') was aspiring for, especially when the platoon opens fire on a seemingly peaceful, unsuspecting ape camp. Thoughts race through memories of Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and other such war films. The entire scene feels more reminiscent of the past than of an imaginary future, evocative of the similar xenophobic language used by Vietnam soldiers as a way to cope with an unspoken resentment for a vain and unwinnable war. As the young men walk in slow-motion through the forest in their camouflage uniforms, the audience can read the angry, hateful jargon written on the back of each helmet. After a short text briefly recaps the events of the previous two films, War for the Planet of the Apes opens on a cold, rainy day with human soldiers marching in single file.
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