Thus concludes the new take on how The Planet of the Apes came to be since the current team wraps it up with War. As charming as Escape, Conquest and Battle were, Rise, Dawn and War have been more satisfying along with being more likely explanations for the world turned upside down when Taylor returns.
War picks up five years after Dawn. The human survivors who were initially attacked by Koba’s followers fled and made contact with what’s left of the US Army. So the Army has been trying to hunt down and kill Caesar, figuring the apes will be neutralized. Meanwhile, Caesar and his advisors are looking for a new place to live because they know the humans will never stop until one side is eradicated. When Caesar’s trusted scout Rocket returns from his expedition, the apes have a plan to escape across the desert.
Before the exodus begins, the humans conduct a commando raid and succeed in killing Caesar’s wife and elder son. Obsessed with revenge, Caesar has the ape tribe sent off to their new home under an interim leader as he plans to attack the kill the humans responsible in their base. Longtime friends Maurice, Rocket and Luca accompany him on their journey north. Along the way they rescue a mute, human girl and a zoo chimp named Bad Ape. Then they find several mortally wounded soldiers also incapable of speaking. Based upon their injuries, it appears they were shot by their own men.
What the apes find at the base turns out to be much worse. Firstly, this unit has mutinied against the Army and is under the sway of fanatical, semi-messianic leader called The Colonel. Calling themselves Alpha Omega, they’re dedicated to human dominance. They even have enslaved apes amongst them. Secondly, somehow Caesar’s people were captured and are now being put to work building a wall to protect the base from a pending attack by the Army.
From here you have to see the movie. Find out the mystery behind the mute humans and how the legend of Caesar, aka the Lawgiver, comes to fruition as the foundation of Ape Civilization.
The actors doing the motion capture are awesome including newcomer Steve Zahn as the Bad Ape. The special effects did a great job incorporate his eyes into the character. Andy Serkis continues to be the Laurence Olivier of this genre. Woody Harrelson delivers the right amount of insanity and menace as The Colonel. What I liked best was the resolution between the main protagonists, again you need to see this to find out.
If this is the final “reboot,” I’m satisfied. Fox has finally atoned for the horrendous Tim Burton remake. Should they keep going, I hope they find a way to bring in the mutants from Beneath without it sucking.
Alamo Extras: People wearing apes masks dancing around circa the early Seventies; a newsreel showing chimps “enjoying” tea and snacks at an English resort; trailers for The Gorilla Gag, Escape and Beneath; the Simpson’s musical gag Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want To Get Off!; the opening from the short-lived cartoon Return; Tim Heidecker trying to interview someone about Dawn; the remaining stuff was recycled from when we saw Kong: Skull Island.