NOTE: It’s assumed that the previous movies in this series have been seen by the readers (must I expound?). Anyhoo, light spoilers from the previous films follow.
What I like about good war movies is not the spectacle of seeing big sweeping, epic shots of a battlefield — bullets and streaks of blood flying in the air, tanks rolling through like behemoths — no, that’s where the word “good” comes in; good war movies at their core are about humanity and its complexities. It showcases both the direst situations of man and them at their most heinous but almost always there are counterweights to it. For every act of torture, murder, and depravity there will always be glimmers of hope, acts of courage, and people of selflessness and heroism that permeate through — the stars that shine through the vast darkness. To think about it, it is those aspects of a war film that stick with me, not the epic battles but the humanity of the players behind them. So, it’s quite ironic that I say that it is this humanity that endeared me to a movie about talking apes.
War for the Planet of the Apes takes place 2 years after the events of Dawn. Here we have a Caesar (played by the why-doesn’t-he-have-an-Oscar-yet-for-this-role Andy Serkis) in hiding, him being hunted and his apes being wiped out by the cavalry called as back up at the end of the previous film. The cat and mouse (or ape?) may be at its end though after the troops’ leader, The Colonel (Woody Harrelson), makes a final play to defeat the apes once and for all.
In terms of plot, War for the Planet of the Apes is not as complex as its immediate predecessor Dawn. There are fewer intricacies, less maneuvering compared to Dawn‘s tackling of counterinsurgency, territorial claims, extremism, and tensioned peace talks (in retrospect, the allegories to the real world political climate are astounding!). War is much more somber. While what fueled Dawn was, in equal parts, its characterization and action, the action of War takes the backseat as there is much more focus on the apes as characters. It focuses on relationships, on camaraderie, on family, on the core inside each character. It is contemplative in a way. Inherent to the film’s setting, the characters here are also much wearier, grayer. The ravages of war are much evident not just through the scars we see physically on the apes but on their psyche, their actions. Some apes, labeled donkeys, have even defected to the side of the humans in the efforts of self-preservation (arguably one of my favorite aspects of the film which I dare not spoil).
The fallout of the battles has taken a toll on Caesar himself as he suffers PTSD — having repeated visions of the slain Koba. We see another side of him, not as righteous, integrity not as intact, selfish in a way compared to the almost messianic image he built in the previous movies. Arguably the main conflict of the film isn’t even that of apes vs humans but that of Caesar’s inner struggle as he comes to grips that maybe Koba was right and he himself might be heading the same path after all.
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This is not to say that Woody Harrelson’s The Colonel is a dismissable villain. Though I believe he is the first human character to cross into “actually evil” territory in the Apes‘ prequel trilogy, his motivations are not unwarranted (if not completely understandable). His purpose there is not just to be a fascist that serves as a tormentor to the apes; he is there to serve as an ideological opposite to Caesar. While the Caesar we see here is consumed by emotions, taking the events of the film personally, the Colonel is the prime example of pragmaticism — having willingly sacrificed everything for what he believes is the key to humanity’s survival. He is there to goad Caesar into foregoing emotionality — accept defeat as a naturality of war — all the while pushing Caesar to be consumed more and more by his hate and anger, forgetting little by little his role as a leader.
In this attempt though to create a more somber, more introspective film, War’s pacing can feel flat at times, dragging, especially by the middle of the film. I believe though that there’s an inherent hurdle to the film’s storytelling because it has the disadvantage of finality. There is less room for speculation because somehow we already know that by the end of the film, the apes will finally be the dominant species and that they will be free from the confined existence they’re currently living in. Dawn, on the other hand, had a perpetual state of tension because when it comes to conflict, you just don’t quite know what will be the straw that breaks (or ignites) the volatile camel’s back. In comparison, War‘s attempts at continuous character exploration, given the film’s narrative position, feel exhausting at times. Kudos are still in order though as director Matt Reeves is able to shape a cohesive, masterfully constructed tale that is carried on pathos and not spectacle — a rare gem for blockbusters nowadays.
This expertise is backed upon by not only the (again I say this) Oscar-worthy performance of Andy Serkis as Caesar and the rest of the motion-captured apes but by the technical mastery shown in the film’s cinematography and scoring. Michael Giacchino creates a score that both sounds epic and sweeping, even if I haven’t seen the 1960s original film, I can’t help but imagine how fitting it would be for a film of that era. There’s an undercurrent of dread but that same time there is poignancy to which scenes are elevated through his score. Michael Seresin’s cinematography too has found a balance in scope and how personal the film is by interspersing vistas of desert beaches, snowy mountain regions, and urban decay with close-up shots of the characters, highlighting emotions, even the subtle ones, in their faces.
Overall, War for the Planet of the Apes is a satisfying conclusion to an even more satisfying trilogy. It is not a film you’d go to for mindless fun (again, a rarity for blockbusters nowadays). It is a contemplation on humanity (yes, through apes) and the complexities of conflict. The best of emotions are shown: triumph, heroism, sacrifice, even love amongst friends and family but also the film shows how these motivations, these same emotions can lead to selfishness, extremism, and fanaticism. Everything it does, it does admirably. It and its predecessors are a rarity that most definitely deserves your attention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxjPjPzQ1iU
