Dec 152017
 
three reels

Following immediately after Dawn of the Planet of the Apes such that a recent viewing of the previous entry is required to understand this one, Caesar (motion-captured Andy Serkis) leads a band of apes that are being hunted by fanatical humans under the command of the deranged Colonel (Woody Harrelson). An attack by The Colonel kills Caesar’s wife and child, so Caesar sends his followers to what he thinks is a safe place while he and three other apes set out to find The Colonel. Along the way they meet a mute human girl (Amiah Miller) and a circus chimp who goes by “Bad Ape.” Things do not go well for anyone.

War for the Planet of the Apes is a technological wonder. Perhaps you want to start a film discussion somewhere else, maybe with story or character, but any discussion of this Ape series, and particularly this film, has to begin with the special effects because they are like nothing before. Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy have great motion-capture characters, but not this good. Previously, films have gotten away with their so-close effects because there’s a degree of unreality built in. But War for the Planet of the Apes is shooting for the real world, one that happens to have talking chimps. And it succeeds. They couldn’t have done better if they’d genetically engineered super apes and given them the roles.

The third part of the Ape trilogy (and it is a third part) goes epic in its world building, but small in its story. This is all character. What The Colonel describes as THE most important conflict in history isn’t between armies (though there are some small armies), but between personalities. And due to the previously mentioned technological advancement, there’s tons of personality on display. A couple humans get time to emote (so much emoting), but primarily it is apes. And it pulls you in; well, it pulled me in. By the end I cared about Caesar and Maurice and Cornelia and Luca and token Nova. And this is a full tragedy, in the theatrical meaning of the term. We have a great man (well, ape), with a tragic flaw, which will doom him. It is his fate. And as that fate is expressed primarily in discussions rather than actions, this really is Planet of the Apes as Shakespeare would have written it. Well… Almost.

You see, War for the Planet of the Apes suffers from the RESPECT problem. It so respects the material, and so wants you to respect it, that it forgets that you should be entertained by it. It is a mistake often made with Shakespeare adaptations, but never made by Shakespeare himself. He knew that in a truly dark tale, such as Macbeth, you need a few clowns, a few moments of levity, and maybe a few of excitement to get the blood flowing. But such moments are in scarce supply here. War for the Planet of the Apes is suffocating in its grimness. It never changes in tone. The characters—those that speak—speak every line with the same, slow intensity. It’s two hours of simmering. A score that wasn’t the musical equivalent of grief would have helped. This is a serious film. A very serious film, and you better know it. Every scene, ever decision, is to make it clear to the audience that this is the most serious film they’ve ever seen. Logan? Oh yeah, that’s serious, but not this serious. You think aging, mental deterioration, death, and loss are serious? Hold my beer! We are an hour and 49 minutes in before the movie cracks its one joke—that apes throw poo. The film manages an exciting climax, but it is too late by then.

War even tries to be respectful with its fan service. They’d have been better off avoiding that altogether and just going their own way, but I know, as did the filmmakers, that the series exists because of fan service. So the nods to the original five films continue as the child is named Nova (“Hey, did you see the original Plane of the Apes? It had a Nova in it too. Isn’t that cool!”).

So a movie that clamors for my respect, get it. I respect War For the Planet of the Apes; I just don’t like it very much.

 

The previous films in the trilogy are Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). The original series consisted of Planet of the Apes (1968), Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). The first film was remade as Planet of the Apes (2001)