A film that is emotionally and visually impactful War For The Planet Of The Apes
Director: Matt Reeves Starring: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Toby Kebbell, Gabriel Chavarria, Karen Konoval, Terry Notary, Michael Adamthwaite, Ty Olsson, Dervy Dalton, Sara Canning, Aleks Paunovic, Amiah Miller War For The Planet of The Learning that the humans, plots that reveal human attiApes is a visually stunning under the leadership of a tudes, logic and amusement, and emotionally fuelled film. mysterious “Colonel”, are the film is conceptually brilThis inter-species survival planning to attack their liant and engaging but never story, keeping with the traabode soon, Caesar decides inspiring or provoking. Also dition of its earlier two edito relocate his folk across the with a familiarity of the contions, has all the trappings of desert. But the night before tent, and the slow pace in the a blockbuster film and resohe can begin the move, his second act, the narrative feels nates with all the flavours of home is attacked. His wife a bit stretched. its predecessors. Cornelia and eldest son Blue On the performance front,
The tale takes off two years Eyes are killed by the Colomost of the key characters after the events of the 2014 nel but Caesar along with deliver beyond expectations. released Dawn of the Planet his youngest son Cornelius In fact, in a stunning motionof the Apes. After the humans survives the attack. capture interpretation, it is were threatened by the SimHaunted by the dead KoAndy Serkis as the confused ian Virus they try to elimiba’s disposition and seething yet sincere Caesar who steals nate the apes. Caesar and his with anger, Caesar abandons the show. He is aptly suptribe now living in the forest his charges, leaving Corported by Steve Zahn who are forced into war by the nelius in the care of Lake, gives us a little comic relief surviving humans. To make the mate of his lost son. He as “Bad Ape”. Karin Konoval matters worse for Caesar, the accompanied by Maurice, as the wise and benevolent followers of his once assisLuka and Rocket, go on the Maurice and Terry Notary tant, Koba have now joined trail, hell bent to make the as Rocket, are noticeable. the humans for revenge on Colonel suffer. This forms Among t he humans, Caesar. the crux of the tale. Woody Harrelson in a poorly
The writing by Mark Bomback and Matt Reeves based on characters created by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, speaks about the annihilation of the species and takes inspiration from classics like Apocalypse Now, The Great Escape and Exodus, in terms of narrative and visuals. Also, with a fair blend of character traits, the film seems complexed and rounded, but then overall, you’d find that the sketches are only one-dimensional and card-board thin. They lack depth except for Caesar.
He is for one, the most interesting hero in recent times. Sympathetic, considerate and compassionate, he is the opposite of a prototype Hollywood protagonist.
Packed with ape-versushuman mayhem and sub- etched role of the antagonist Colonel, delivers an obligatory performance. Similarly, Amiah Miller as Nova the bold and kind war orphan whom Maurice adopts as his daughter is charming. The character has promise but is poorly crafted.
Visually the lush green forests, the rustic landscape, the avalanche and the war scenes are astutely captured by Director of Photography Michael Seresin’s lens. His frames seamlessly merge with the adroitly crafted computer 3D and Visual Effects created by Visual Effects Supervisors Joe Letteri and Dan Lemmon.
The background score created by Michael Giacchino elevates the viewing experience. IANS