War for the Planet of the Apes- Movie Review

War for the Planet of the Apes is the thrilling conclusion in the Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy, started with 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. This film follows Caesar and his ape army as they fight against the ruthless colonel and his army.
 The movie starts out very strong as we follow a group of humans from the colonel's army as they come across an ape base. They attack and are faced with a large group of apes taking them out. There are many casualties and this sparks conflict between the ape and human armies. Caesar and a small team of his most trusted friend's aim to take out the colonel in an act of revenge, leading to an all out war between humans and apes.

Andy Serkis is back as Caesar and continues his run of being the greatest motion-capture performances of all time. He uses his eyes, movement, and very little dialogue to bring out more emotion and depth than most human characters we see nowadays. Over the first two films we have seen Caesar grow as a character and that continues in this film. In Rise and Dawn the apes were definitely the focus but they were accompanied by very strong supporting human characters. This continues with the colonel played by Woody Harrelson. The colonel seems like an emotionless, ruthless, power-hungry leader at first but as we see more of him his intentions are made more clear and at points he somewhat convinces the audience that what he's doing is right. Harrelson brings a very different performance than what we are used to seeing him do and he pulls it off magnificently. He portrays the colonel menacing when he needs to but still manages to bring great emotion when necessary. Another new addition to the franchise is the character Bad Ape, played by Steve Zahn. At first this goofy ape seems like an annoying comedic relief character that will derail the movie but he ends up being a very good addition. The character is similar to Dobby from the Harry Potter franchise as he is there for comic relief but also has a lot of heart and ends up being crucial to the plot. Throughout the whole film there isn't a bad performance, ape or human, and that helps a lot getting the audience invested in the movie.
This movie is directed by Matt Reeves, who directed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as well as Cloverfield, as is slated to direct the Batman. Reeves does an amazing job of bringing deep emotion from the every character, including the CGI ones. He amps up the emotion when necessary but also brings a lot of well directed tension when the scene calls for it. As the title of the movie says, this is a war, and all the action sequences are incredibly well directed. There isn't a moment where the action is unclear and it is very exciting to watch. The cinematography of the movie is also fantastic. From forests to beaches to snowy mountains there isn't a shot that isn't beautiful. The scene is luscious when we are in the forests and grungy when we are in the military base, and it adds a lot to the scene. Michael Giacchino composed the film and although not as memorable as some all time classics it is a score that sneakily improves the movie. It is one of those scores that doesn't jump out at you but builds tension and emotion very powerfully as the films progresses. One other filmmaking aspect I want to touch on is the way the CGI artists differentiate the many apes. Most of the apes look the same with subtle differences but all the main apes have very distinct features that make them easily recognizable.
The story this film tells is very powerful and filled with emotion and deep character motivation. This is the perfect way to end off what is arguably one of the greatest trilogies put to the screen. This is one of the best movies of the year by far. I give War for the Planet of the Apes 4.65/5