War for the Planet of the Apes Film Review

War for the Planet of the Apes Synopsis: After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.

Tagline: For freedom. For family. For the Planet.

Release Date: July 14th, 2017 | Runtime: 2 hrs 20 min | Coolthulhus earned: 4

Starring: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn

War for the Planet of the Apes Review

While I enjoyed the first and second installments in the trilogy reboot of Planet of the Apes, none of them made a lasting impression. I had no particular desire to see War for the Planet of the Apes. But it was hot outside, and it was Spiderman: Homecoming, or War for the Planet of the Apes. I chose War. (And because Spiderman: Homecoming was sold out, so did the partner and the eight year old.)

The CGI in War for the Planet of the Apes was amazing. I absolutely loved that everything looked so believable. It really let me immerse myself in the movie. It really sets the bar for future movies.

War for the Planet of the Apes says a lot. Now, a lot of it has been said before, and even an idiot can get the not-so-underlying message But it says what it wants to say in a way that isn’t boring to watch. And for a “war” movie, there’s not much actual bam-bam-bam going on. People who like drama and sadness will find a lot to love in this movie. Caesar is a character you instinctively root for. Bad Ape gave a few moments of much needed lightness to the movie. Very Gollum-esque in appearance, but considerably more funny. I did not like the storyline involving one specific gorilla (I won’t say more for fear of spoilers).  It was one of the few things in the movie that I actually had a problem with.

Woody Harrelson does a decent job as the General in War for the Planet of the Apes. Truth be told, I wasn’t entirely sure it was him in the first few minutes he was on screen. But then I saw him in a different scene and instantly knew. He has been in such an interesting variety of films lately, and the man can act. Who would have thought that he’d be starring as the main bad guy in a war movie when he started off as a goofy bartender in Cheers of all things?

The action in the movie is well-shot. The dialogue is predictable but acceptable. A refreshing amount of the movie has ASL instead of spoken language. It’s a long movie at 2 hours and 22 minutes, but it’s not until near the end that you’re aware of the fact that it’s a long movie. War for the Planet of the Apes is a solid conclusion to an interesting (albeit easily forgettable) trilogy reboot.

Fans of the series will definitely be pleased with War for the Planet of the Apes.

If you’ve already seen it, what did you think of Bad Ape?