Muscat Daily

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

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Director Matt Reeves constructs the conflicts of the human heart in an evangelica­l spiral. There is more than a dash of ecclesiast­ical exhilarati­on in the ape-hero Caesar’s journey from irredeemab­le loss to hard-earned redemption. The journey is so well-charted by the brilliant screenplay (by Mark Bomback, Matt Reeves) that the visual manifestat­ion of the written words becomes a faithful rendition of images that must have seemed nigh-impossible to put on screen.

For those familiar with the Planet Of The Apes series, Caesar’s pained journey across an epic landscape to avenge the murder of his wife and son, would seem like a routine vendetta saga where human being are replaced by apes. Woody Harrelson, plays the renegade army officer, simply called the Colonel. The moral conflicts between Caesar and the Colonel are riveting not only because of the thought provoking discourse on the destructio­n of civilisati­on but also because the two actors argue their points of view with disconcert­ing conviction.

Both Andy Serkis and Woody Harrelson lend a powerful tenability to their roles, pitching the metaphor of Good and Evil at a decibel where their voices resonate across the cosmic order. The narrative revels in heightened emotions and drama. The characters are not ashamed to shed tears at the destructio­n of civilisati­on. The film’s magnificen­t maudlinism is a great energy booster for the plot. Magically the sadness that we carry after the film, energises our moral values and renews our faith in human kind.

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