War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Country: US
Technical: col/2.39:1 140m
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, Amiah Miller
Synopsis:
Soldiers of a renegade 'Colonel' continue to seek and destroy apes in the forest of the northwest, and Caesar embarks on an ill-advised vendetta which ultimately proves critical to the survival of his kind.
Review:
The closing of the Serkis trilogy very much continues the Escape/Conquest/Battle schema of the 70s cycle, but with heightened ape effects as before - and greater length. Again, however, this is anything but an effects fest, and they are there to drive the story rather than the reverse. The irony of the humans being overtaken by a virus that effectively brings about a reversal of roles, with the apes destined to be the superior mammal, is well pointed: speech, higher order thinking, and freedom from hate are highlighted again and again. In a break with convention, even the spared soldier at the beginning, Preacher, learns nothing from the mercy accorded him, and it is a rare film indeed that has the viewer rooting for the toppling of the human species. This is compelling film-making, with magnificent photography in the Rockies of British Columbia, but one cavil: they do manage to go for days in freezing temperatures without any food, and then walk to Yellowstone.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.39:1 140m
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, Amiah Miller
Synopsis:
Soldiers of a renegade 'Colonel' continue to seek and destroy apes in the forest of the northwest, and Caesar embarks on an ill-advised vendetta which ultimately proves critical to the survival of his kind.
Review:
The closing of the Serkis trilogy very much continues the Escape/Conquest/Battle schema of the 70s cycle, but with heightened ape effects as before - and greater length. Again, however, this is anything but an effects fest, and they are there to drive the story rather than the reverse. The irony of the humans being overtaken by a virus that effectively brings about a reversal of roles, with the apes destined to be the superior mammal, is well pointed: speech, higher order thinking, and freedom from hate are highlighted again and again. In a break with convention, even the spared soldier at the beginning, Preacher, learns nothing from the mercy accorded him, and it is a rare film indeed that has the viewer rooting for the toppling of the human species. This is compelling film-making, with magnificent photography in the Rockies of British Columbia, but one cavil: they do manage to go for days in freezing temperatures without any food, and then walk to Yellowstone.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.39:1 140m
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, Amiah Miller
Synopsis:
Soldiers of a renegade 'Colonel' continue to seek and destroy apes in the forest of the northwest, and Caesar embarks on an ill-advised vendetta which ultimately proves critical to the survival of his kind.
Review:
The closing of the Serkis trilogy very much continues the Escape/Conquest/Battle schema of the 70s cycle, but with heightened ape effects as before - and greater length. Again, however, this is anything but an effects fest, and they are there to drive the story rather than the reverse. The irony of the humans being overtaken by a virus that effectively brings about a reversal of roles, with the apes destined to be the superior mammal, is well pointed: speech, higher order thinking, and freedom from hate are highlighted again and again. In a break with convention, even the spared soldier at the beginning, Preacher, learns nothing from the mercy accorded him, and it is a rare film indeed that has the viewer rooting for the toppling of the human species. This is compelling film-making, with magnificent photography in the Rockies of British Columbia, but one cavil: they do manage to go for days in freezing temperatures without any food, and then walk to Yellowstone.