Review: WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES is a Striking and Satisfying Finale to One of the Best Trilogies Ever Made

With Dawn and now War for the Planet of the Apes, filmmaker Matt Reeves has crafted easily two-thirds of the best science fiction trilogy since the original Star Wars films, and he does a brilliant job of bringing home Caesar’s (Andy Serkis) origin story in an emotional and brutally unflinching examination of loss, revenge, power, and survival. With War, Reeves has cemented himself as one of the best blockbuster storytellers out there today, and I could not have asked for a better culmination of Caesar’s story than the one we get here.

War for the Planet of the Apes picks up about two years after the conclusion of Dawn. Summoned military troops have been fighting against Caesar and his apes, trying to eradicate the intelligent simians and take back the world for the sake of all humankind. The troops are led by Colonel McCullough (Woody Harrelson), whose own sense of vengeance against the apes is a personal one, as he ruthlessly hunts down Caesar’s colony even after the primate leader decides to show mercy on some of McCullough’s men after a brutal attack. Once the apes are rounded up and taken hostage by the unforgiving soldiers, it’s up to Caesar to figure out McCullough’s endgame and also find a way to get his primate brethren out of the military installation safely to a place where their existence won’t be constantly threatened by those who seek to destroy them.

As someone who grew up fascinated by the original Planet of the Apes, and then found her love rekindled throughout her late teens and early 20s, I feel like what Reeves (and Rupert Wyatt, who helmed Rise) have been able to create with this Apes prequel trilogy is nothing short of spectacular. So few franchises can deftly handle action, spectacle, and emotion the way that these films have, and I think that’s why these films feel very special to me as a fan. You’re wholly invested in these characters from moment one, and several of War’s set pieces rank among some of the most breathtaking moments in this triad of films.

All three of these Apes films have heavily relied on the enormous talents of Serkis as Caesar, and the actor has proven time and time again in this series that computer-generated characters can be every bit as compelling as human actors, and sometimes, even more so. And watching him play these very different phases of Caesar’s life has been so intriguing over the last six years. In Rise, we watched the iconic ape grow from an infant into a force of nature who unites with his simian pals and reluctantly leaves behind the human world he knew and loved. For Dawn, Caesar steps into the roles of leader and father, realizing the sacrifices that must be made in order for his kind to survive.

There are still shreds of humanity (for lack of a better word) to our primate protagonist in that second installment, but by the time we catch up with Caesar in War, his demeanor has shifted and he’s come to realize that there’s no way that the remaining humans can co-exist peacefully with those he’s sworn to protect and cares about most in this cruel new world.

That’s not to say that Caesar doesn’t try to spare the human soldiers sent to kill him and those in his anthropoid community, because at one point he shows a group of special forces mercy by allowing them to live, but it’s a decision that ends up costing him nearly everything he loves, and that’s when there’s no going back for Caesar. After making a hard decision about the fate of Koba (Toby Kebbell) at the end of Dawn, we watch as Caesar still wrestles with the weight of that choice, as he begins to understand Koba’s unfavorable POV towards humankind during War for the Planet of the Apes. I like that Reeves incorporates this struggle deep within our simian hero, as it gives some weight to Caesar’s actions and decisions, and provides Serkis with plenty of opportunities to demonstrate the dynamics of his character who may be a hero, but is one who still makes mistakes, just like us.

Just as intriguing as Caesar are his ape counterparts: Maurice (Karin Konoval), the wise orangutan who has been his leader’s greatest confidante since the very beginning, Rocket (Terry Notary), the chimpanzee who first learned to respect Caesar’s authority in Rise, and Luca (Michael Adamthwaite), the battle-ready gorilla always willing to fight on behalf of his commander. Judy Greer has done a lovely job of portraying Cornelia, Caesar’s wife, in these last two Apes films, too, and a newcomer to the trilogy is Steve Zahn as Bad Ape, whose wide-eyed charms bring some much-needed levity to Reeves’ often grim concluding chapter. And for as brilliant as Serkis has been in these three films as Caesar, what Zahn manages to achieve in War with Bad Ape is just as incredible, and I absolutely fell in love with his character.

Something else that I really enjoyed about War is this idea that the Simian Flu had mutated, leaving any survivors susceptible to new, horrific effects, which is a nod to the type of humans we meet in 1968’s Planet of the Apes. And to me, what has been the most amazing aspect of this Apes series is that for three films now, audiences have become wholly invested in watching the extermination of our own kind. By War, we pretty much want to see Caesar and his fellow apes take over, because the human beings that still remain demonstrate an unwillingness to see past their own selfish reasoning, and it’s their growing desperation to survive that motivates them against the apes. We’ve seen through Caesar’s eyes the importance of compassion and understanding, as he’s taken this cinematic journey from son to father to leader, and in War, he even becomes something of a savior figure, which perfectly ties into the lore of Caesar in the original franchise.

So few prequels and franchises put this much love for their source material on display, but between different story elements (which I thought were great reveals, so I want to preserve your discovery of them), Michael Giacchino’s thunderous score that harkens back to Jerry Goldsmith’s original Apes score, and Reeves crafting a harrowing yet stunning tale of survival and hope, there’s no doubt in my mind that War for the Planet of the Apes has nothing but reverence for this beautifully bleak post-apocalyptic world first envisioned nearly 55 years ago by author Pierre Boulle.

And while I feel like I’ve done my best to honor what has quickly become my favorite movies of the summer, and easily a top three film contender for 2017, I still don’t feel like I’ve even come close to giving War for the Planet of the Apes the due it deserves; I just loved it so very much, as Reeves gave me everything I was hoping for and beyond as a fan.

Movie Score: 5/5