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War for the Planet of the Apes - Review thread. (RT= 96%)

S

strafer

member
The QBComics said:
So, I got a chance to see this last night.

It's pretty good, though it's not a perfect film by any means.

The CG in this film is so unparalled that it's ridiculous. There are some shots where the lights will bounce off the ape characters, and it looks so real that I thought they were puppets.

Vague impressions, but I'll spoiler them nonetheless:

Very curious to see audience reaction to this film, as it is absolutely not an action film. Outside of the opening and the ending, there pretty much isn't a single other major set piece, which is pretty surprising for a 2 and a half hour film.

On one hand, I think it's great that a director (with studio backing) didn't feel the need to force an action scene for the sake of adhering to blockbuster conventionality. On the other, the opening war sequence is so fucking stellar in its scale and how Reeve's frames everything, that I was sad that we didn't get more of it. Seriously, the opening left my jaw agape.

The second section dragged a bit for me, but the performances from the apes are convincing enough to carry it. I really liked Bad Ape's character.

The cinematography is pretty damn good. Dunkirk will probably look better, but as of now it's far and away the best shot blockbuster of the summer. The way they capture a lot of these environments adds a lot of texture to this world.

The third act is a mixed bag. The actual war sequence is pretty much background dressing. Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely gorgeous background dressing, and really captures an amazing sense of scale. But it did feel a bit unsatisfying to have that battle not be directly between apes and humans. And I'm sure for a movie with "War" in the title, people are going to be disappointed that we really only see the apes fight in that opener.

All in all, I like it, despite its more obvious flaws.
Click to expand...

I'm perfectly fine with that. Love me some good story telling instead of big bombastic action scenes.

Can't wait.
 
T

The QBComics

Member
Yeah, the lack of action sequences is definitely not a bad thing. It allowed for some more intimate character moments in the middle of the film, particularly with Bad Ape.

My issue with the third act's big sequence stemmed more from
wanting the apes to have a more direct confrontation with the humans, especially after what they endure from them beforehand. It would've been more satisfying for me.
Which I guess I didn't really explain well before, but it's hard to without giving away more direct spoilers.

Still, the action that is there is really well executed, from a technical level.

Timu said:
Aren't there chase scenes in this movie? And what about some scenes of apes taking on humans in the dark and some other isolated areas? I'm going off the trailers based on that.
Click to expand...

The stuff in the dark you're probably thinking of is
shortly after the opening battle of the film, so maybe 20 minutes in or so. It's designed more as a tense, stealth scene, and pretty much acts as the inciting incident of the film.

In regards to your other question:
there is a chase scene, but it's not that much of an actual action sequence. It essentially serves to introduce another character.
 
T

Timu

Member
The QBComics said:
Yeah, the lack of action sequences is definitely not a bad thing. It allowed for some more intimate character moments in the middle of the film, particularly with Bad Ape.

My issue with the third act's big sequence stemmed more from
wanting the apes to have a more direct confrontation with the humans, especially after what they endure from them beforehand. It would've been more satisfying for me.
Which I guess I didn't really explain well before, but it's hard to without giving away more direct spoilers.

Still, the action that is there is really well executed, from a technical level.



The stuff in the dark you're probably thinking of is
shortly after the opening battle of the film, so maybe 20 minutes in or so. It's designed more as a tense, stealth scene, and pretty much acts as the inciting incident of the film.

In regards to your other question:
there is a chase scene, but it's not that much of an actual action sequence. It essentially serves to introduce another character.
Click to expand...
Ok, so as long as everything else is done well plus what's there for action is great I don't mind the limited number of action scenes.
 
F

Fast Forward

Member
TBH, THIS is the movie I cannot stop thinking about. More than any other Summer movie, including Homecoming, which also looks to be damn great. Does not help a) the teaser trailer was all sorts of all-time great, b) the reviews are generally super positive, c) the previous movie in Dawn was damn great, and d) this is the movie I have always wanted since my childhood watching the original series on AMC.
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
Those spoilers are going to piss a lot of people off.

I know from my circle, most are expecting
full on war and the movie ends with nukes launching.

I personally don't mind,
these movies have always been about the characters first, especially my dude Maurice, but their ad campaign, the title, it's all going to result in a blacklash.
 
F

Fast Forward

Member
Speaking of which, I'm AMAZED I've managed to avoid to avoid spoilers on War, and thus, pleasantly surprised.

Than again, I hate the often covers for the original 68 movie. New generations should experience the 68 movie with the same shock as audiences at the time. Not everyone AUTOMATICALLY understand culture references from birth, or knows everything. New generation should be able to be able to experience it for the first time. Only in experiencing the show of the original movie for yourself watching it can you truly appreciate the ending IMHO.
 
C

crackhead_bob

Member
The QBComics said:
Yeah, the lack of action sequences is definitely not a bad thing. It allowed for some more intimate character moments in the middle of the film, particularly with Bad Ape.

My issue with the third act's big sequence stemmed more from
wanting the apes to have a more direct confrontation with the humans, especially after what they endure from them beforehand. It would've been more satisfying for me.
Which I guess I didn't really explain well before, but it's hard to without giving away more direct spoilers.

Still, the action that is there is really well executed, from a technical level.



The stuff in the dark you're probably thinking of is
shortly after the opening battle of the film, so maybe 20 minutes in or so. It's designed more as a tense, stealth scene, and pretty much acts as the inciting incident of the film.

In regards to your other question:
there is a chase scene, but it's not that much of an actual action sequence. It essentially serves to introduce another character.
Click to expand...

How much do the themes of revenge and forgiveness come into play in Caesar's personal arc? The manner in which he dispatches the main antagonists of the previous films is done ambiguously, as if he were trying to morally absolve himself from the implications of his actions. In Rise, he leaves Jabob's fate to Koba, who he knows will kill him instead. Caesar, of course, does this after he witnesses the death of his gorilla companion. So revenge does play a key role in this decision. In Dawn, he again gives himself a pass by reasoning that Koba is not an ape, and drops him to his death.

If Koba's uprising in Dawn was Caesar's punishment for allowing Koba to take vengeance in Rise, what serves as his punishment in War for the Planet of the Apes for his decision to kill Koba?
 
C

crackhead_bob

Member
Has anyone listened to War for the Planet of the Apes' soundtrack? The track Paradise Found is a stirring rendition of what was in Dawn. I was hoping that the soundtrack would include some homage arrangements from Rise, but oh well. I will say this, however. The Caesar theme from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is this franchise's Imperial March. But I still like Rise's theme at the end where Caesar climbs up the redwood tree to observe the San Francisco Gate Bridge.
 
C

crackhead_bob

Member
PabloBolivar said:
C'mon. That's not even close to true. I can name 2 immediately.
Lord of the Rings
Star Wars
Click to expand...

Star Wars OT had a weak 3rd film. I love Star Wars OT, but let's not pretend that it's not without its faults. For my money, the best rounded trilogies out there are Lord of the Rings and Toy Story, but I consider Star Wars OT and to a much lesser extent, Back to the Future as some of the more better rounded working film trilogies. The fact that the latter two were able to resolve much of their themes help put them over The Matrix trilogy, X-men, and even the Dark Knight Trilogy. I feel that Dark Knight Rises was a more expertly crafted film than Return of the Jedi, but as a trilogy capper, I give the edge to Jedi. Hitting all the important themes and plot points is crucial to delivering a solid third act.
 
S

Smellycat

Member
I completely forgot that this comes out soon :O

The first two movies are incredible. Who would have thought that this would be the best trilogy since the LOTR?
 
P

PsihoPerihelion

Member
crackhead_bob said:
Has anyone listened to War for the Planet of the Apes' soundtrack? The track Paradise Found is a stirring rendition of what was in Dawn. I was hoping that the soundtrack would include some homage arrangements from Rise, but oh well. I will say this, however. The Caesar theme from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is this franchise's Imperial March. But I still like Rise's theme at the end where Caesar climbs up the redwood tree to observe the San Francisco Gate Bridge.
Click to expand...
Different composers are probably the cause of not having any rendition from the first film themes. I agree about Caesar's theme being the franchise's Imperial March. I love that theme more than anything I've heard on the last decade. Michael Giacchino went from good to genius for me with the score for War of the Planet of the Apes.
 
C

crackhead_bob

Member
PsihoPerihelion said:
Different composers are probably the cause of not having any rendition from the first film themes. I agree about Caesar's theme being the franchise's Imperial March. I love that theme more than anything I've heard on the last decade. Michael Giacchino went from good to genius for me with the score for War of the Planet of the Apes.
Click to expand...

It's good that they got someone to compose a definitive theme for Dawn and War. X-Men films are all over the place in that respect. I mean, I can't think of anything from that definitively ties into the X-Men the way that John William's Superman theme does, and that's a shame.

I wonder what the circumstances were surrounding the shakeup that led to Rupert Wyatt's departure. It all turned out good in the end, but I wonder how different these films would have been had Matt Reeves not been chosen.

Or....

What would a Matt Reeves Planet of the Apes trilogy have been like? And was it probably for the best that he only helmed 2 of these films instead of potentially burning out on a third one?
 
N

NandoGip

Member
Its insane that these movies are so well regarded. I saw the trailer and assumed it was nothing special but the reactions make me think I should check em out
 
M

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
SomewhatGroovy said:
Man, I still haven't even seen the first two movies.
Click to expand...

Do it.

Rise somehow has this weird Disney Channel movie feel except that it was given an actual SFX budget and talent. It also has Batman Begins-tier character development for Caesar which is why I always find it so essential for people to see this first before the Reeves films. It's not that mind-blowing, but it has a solid, compelling origin story that even today's superhero films lack.

Meanwhile, Dawn is just on a whole other realm of filmmaking relative to the previous film in that I consider it one of my top Hollywood sci-fi films from the past decade. I've been itching to watch it again before War premieres. It's also got one of the more tightly focused and meaningful climaxes than any other summer movie that's come out in the past few years. The movie pretty much maximizes the potential of its premise as much as possible, thematically and aesthetically.

Also, not really necessary at all, but you should look up the tie-in shorts Motherboard put together for the marketing of Dawn. It's just fun to see how other smalltime filmmakers handle the Ape-ocalypse in their own way. All of them should be on YouTube.

BTW, for the sake of anyone that hasn't noticed yet, I already put up the OT. It's also a spoiler thread but nothing's on there yet, so feel free to fill it with some juicy details. If you're not into doing that yet, I'm going to at least share the OP banner I made for this review thread.

z2fuXtP.jpg
 
Lynd7

Lynd7

Member
Don't want spoilers, but is it likely we will get another film after this one? I hope they keep going.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Lynd7 said:
Don't want spoilers, but is it likely we will get another film after this one? I hope they keep going.
Click to expand...

I’m not sure I do. I realise this isn’t the original planet of the apes, but I assume everyone thinks it is pretty much a version of a prequel trilogy. If they continue too much, all that’ll happen is you’ll have an actual planet of apes, and humans come to visit. i think the time jump might be too much though - you’ll want a full civilisation set up, and for the remnants of humankind to have faded away enough. At that point it isn’t Caesar’s story anymore and I don’t know if it would still be interesting. Also a sequel can mean they avoid closing the story naturally.

We do have the spaceship crew seemingly lost in space but that may have just been a fun Easter egg
 
Megatron

Megatron

Member
crackhead_bob said:
Star Wars OT had a weak 3rd film. I love Star Wars OT, but let's not pretend that it's not without its faults. For my money, the best rounded trilogies out there are Lord of the Rings and Toy Story, but I consider Star Wars OT and to a much lesser extent, Back to the Future as some of the more better rounded working film trilogies. The fact that the latter two were able to resolve much of their themes help put them over The Matrix trilogy, X-men, and even the Dark Knight Trilogy. I feel that Dark Knight Rises was a more expertly crafted film than Return of the Jedi, but as a trilogy capper, I give the edge to Jedi. Hitting all the important themes and plot points is crucial to delivering a solid third act.
Click to expand...

Rise of the planet of apes was weak too though, worse than Jedi or Return of the King.
 
Lynd7

Lynd7

Member
mrklaw said:
I’m not sure I do. I realise this isn’t the original planet of the apes, but I assume everyone thinks it is pretty much a version of a prequel trilogy. If they continue too much, all that’ll happen is you’ll have an actual planet of apes, and humans come to visit. i think the time jump might be too much though - you’ll want a full civilisation set up, and for the remnants of humankind to have faded away enough. At that point it isn’t Caesar’s story anymore and I don’t know if it would still be interesting. Also a sequel can mean they avoid closing the story naturally.

We do have the spaceship crew seemingly lost in space but that may have just been a fun Easter egg
Click to expand...

I actually would like to see another 'Planet of the Apes' where they can finally do an Ape civilisation properly and not the huts and low key level they were at in the original. You could still keep the memory of Caesar, he would still be remembered and revered.

Maybe theres no point, but I wouldn't mind this team tackling the task of trying to do it.
 
H

HotHamBoy

Member
Lynd7 said:
I actually would like to see another 'Planet of the Apes' where they can finally do an Ape civilisation properly and not the huts and low key level they were at in the original. You could still keep the memory of Caesar, he would still be remembered and revered.

Maybe theres no point, but I wouldn't mind this team tackling the task of trying to do it.
Click to expand...

MV5BY2RlMDhlY2MtMjQ1Zi00NzI5LTgxOTgtZjliNWMzYTY3NWZkL2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_UY1200_CR85,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg
 
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