Andy Serkis deserves an Oscar.
There's no getting around the power of his performance in this, the conclusion of the prequel Apes trilogy of films. In Rise, he portrayed the character of Caesar as a fast-maturing ape who was learning to grapple with his human side. In Dawn, we say that humanity firmly take hold after what was left of his peaceful ape habits began to fade.
Now, in War, like Darth Vader, his goodness is in constant battle with his darker side, and the result is at times chilling but also heart- warming to see the good shine through once again.
This Apes film is unique in the prequel trilogy as it mostly centers on the plight of the apes rather than the humans. In the previous two, we saw humanity as being on the short stick of its own arrogance, and the survivors learned to co-exist.
Now, humans are shown through the lens of warriors only, specifically that of the Colonel played by Woody Harrelson. While his subordinates get the obligatory expendable-soldier treatment, the Colonel is a far more complex character who, while you condemn his actions, you understand his motivations, truly the kind of villain that good writing is capable of bringing to the screen.
On the Apes side, with the exception of a couple of expendable characters with little to say about them, all of the characters we are introduced to are well fleshed-out and have interactions that contribute to the plot without needless exposition, the way it should be done.
If there are any faults to this film, aside from its length, which by the end did start to feel it once the action ended, there were the references to the original Planet of the Apes. Up front, there are three obvious ones, and of these two are very in-your-face and after the initial reference are said again and again to point it is distracting, but in a movie such as this these are minor gripes.
The original sequels to the original Planet of the Apes were less than stellar, but this capping-off of this prequel trilogy is up there as almost matching the quality of the original, sure to be remembered as a classic in the years to come.
There's no getting around the power of his performance in this, the conclusion of the prequel Apes trilogy of films. In Rise, he portrayed the character of Caesar as a fast-maturing ape who was learning to grapple with his human side. In Dawn, we say that humanity firmly take hold after what was left of his peaceful ape habits began to fade.
Now, in War, like Darth Vader, his goodness is in constant battle with his darker side, and the result is at times chilling but also heart- warming to see the good shine through once again.
This Apes film is unique in the prequel trilogy as it mostly centers on the plight of the apes rather than the humans. In the previous two, we saw humanity as being on the short stick of its own arrogance, and the survivors learned to co-exist.
Now, humans are shown through the lens of warriors only, specifically that of the Colonel played by Woody Harrelson. While his subordinates get the obligatory expendable-soldier treatment, the Colonel is a far more complex character who, while you condemn his actions, you understand his motivations, truly the kind of villain that good writing is capable of bringing to the screen.
On the Apes side, with the exception of a couple of expendable characters with little to say about them, all of the characters we are introduced to are well fleshed-out and have interactions that contribute to the plot without needless exposition, the way it should be done.
If there are any faults to this film, aside from its length, which by the end did start to feel it once the action ended, there were the references to the original Planet of the Apes. Up front, there are three obvious ones, and of these two are very in-your-face and after the initial reference are said again and again to point it is distracting, but in a movie such as this these are minor gripes.
The original sequels to the original Planet of the Apes were less than stellar, but this capping-off of this prequel trilogy is up there as almost matching the quality of the original, sure to be remembered as a classic in the years to come.