NO MONKEY BUSINESS: GUY DAVIS REVIEWS THE NEW FILM WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn Whose planet is it anyway? THE new Planet of the Apes series, beginning with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, has to rank among the most successful reboots of a film franchise in recent history.
Rise looked at the origins of a virus that gave ordinary apes increased intelligence — and in one case, the power of speech — while it began the slow demise of the human race.
And its 2014 follow-up, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, explored the uneasy coexistence of an emerging ape civilisation and the rapidly diminishing human population.
Directed by Matt Reeves and driven by an amazing motion-capture performance by actor Andy Serkis (who’d previously done similarly great work bringing the likes of King Kong and Lord of the Rings’ Gollum to life), Dawn was a tremendous achievement — a mainstream entertainment that was thrilling, touching and thoughtful in equal measure.
And it set a very high standard for any future chapters.
Now Reeves and Serkis have returned for a third film in this new Apes saga, and while War for the Planet of the Apes is certainly the most ambitious of the series, it falls slightly short of that standard set by its predecessor.
That’s not to say it’s a bad movie. Far from it. At times, its intelligence and impact ensures it meets and even exceeds any expectations a viewer might have for a sequel to Dawn.
But it doesn’t always pull off the tricky shifts in tone or successfully hit the emotional beats it is aiming for, and that inconsistency keeps it from reaching excellence.
Dawn ended on a dark note, as heightened conflict between the two species loomed.
As War gets under way, the colony of apes led by Serkis’ Caesar continues to be hunted by a cadre of well-armed soldiers under the command of Colonel McCulloch (Woody Harrelson in an unsettling portrayal of self-righteous certainty).
Caesar doesn’t want to fight but he’ll do anything to protect the apes he cares about, including his family. And when McCulloch launches a sneak attack with devastating consequences, the ape who had long tried to understand and co-operate with humanity finds himself seeking vengeance against them.
Caesar’s quest for revenge brings him into contact with new allies (such as another talking primate, the timid but good-hearted Bad Ape, sweetly played by Steve Zahn) and new enemies, including apes who have collaborated with McCulloch’s forces.
Reeves tries to pack a lot into the movie’s 2½ -hour running time, and it’s to his credit as a storyteller that War never loses grasp of the audience’s interest.
And it’s to the credit of Serkis, playing Caesar as a wise and strong leader made weary by years of battle, that this Apes series hits such a strong and resonant emotional chord.