Fitting finale for Planet of the Apes
Print Edition
APPARENTLY, all the new Planet of the Apes film needed for a home run was to take humans out of the equation. It’s what this whole trilogy has been leading up to, really, as we dipped our toes into the “Rise,” “Dawn” and now “War” of this burgeoning civilization of apes desperately fighting for their survival.
“War for the Planet of the Apes” is a riveting and poignant epic that’s a shade above the rest of the franchise. It’s clear director Matt Reeves, screenwriter Mark Bomback and the production team care about their characters.
Reeves wastes no time getting the action started with a gripping opening battle. We enter the world through the eyes of some terrified intruders. A group of human soldiers walk through the woods in search of Caesar (Andy Serkis). They don’t know whether he’s still alive, but their leader is hell-bent on exterminating the apes.
Caesar and his followers have been operating from a secret hideout in the woods — a gorgeous little Eden tucked away behind a thundering waterfall. When the soldiers find them, the apes fight back swiftly and nearly take out all of the combatants. Caesar spares the lives of the few survivors to send a message back to their leader that the apes are not savages and just want to live in peace separately from humans.
Of course the message inspires exactly the opposite reaction and the beautiful and harrowing and nearly silent nighttime raid that comes soon after leaves the apes with no choice but to abandon their home and hit the road in search of safety. Caesar, however, decides he must go off alone and avenge his community by destroying the Colonel (Woody Harrelson), a deranged Kurtz figure who is one of the best on-screen villains we’ve had in quite some time.
A few of Caesar’s comrades follow him on his journey to find the Colonel. Along the way they pick up a young, mute girl (Amiah Miller) and a tiny, manic and adorable zoo ape voiced by Steve Zahn. When they arrive at the Colonel’s base, they find a much bleaker and more complicated situation than they could have ever expected.
“War for the Planet of the Apes” should be a satisfactory conclusion for the series, assuming the franchise is allowed to ends. Regardless of what does or doesn’t happen next for the Planet of the Apes, this installment is very simply a great time at the movies.
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