War For The Planet Of The Apes

It is very interesting, all the discussions about if monkeys are the closest related species to humans. Is this true ? Do we really have the facts to prove this ? I think scientists, and professors worldwide have a lot of answers these days, within this subject. I do believe that we have some things in common. At least if you look at the chimpanzee, and see how they learn things, as well as communicate. Apes do seem to have a lot of different ways to learn, and adjust in their environment. But what if Apes would become more intelligent, and learn more about society, when humans are not prepared ? What if they would turn against us, and take over the world ? Most of you have probably seen the cult classic film Planet Of The Apes, from 1968. At the time when the film came out, the film did make a big impact. Not only because it was a very well made film, but the subject about Apes fighting against humans. I did not see this film until the late 80´s, so my first memory of the film was the actors Charles Heston and Roddy McDowall being in the cast list. I also remember that the make up looked good, considering this film was made in the late 60´s. Planet Of The Apes is still today one of those films i can see again, and enjoy. Perhaps because director Franklin J. Shaffner knew exactly how he would portrait the war against humans and monkeys, and he made it work so well. There were a bunch of sequels released, where Roddy McDowall returned. They are ok, but it was always clear that it would be hard to do a film as good, as the original film. For a long time, it seemed that we would not see a new film being made, from the Planet Of The Apes series. Until director Tim Burton decided to remake the original film in the year 2001. Now, me personally did not enjoy this film very much. Sure, the casting was fun, but i think this film had too many flaws to make it work. Critics and fans to the original film were not all pleased with this remake, and the film did not do as well as the film studio hoped it would do. At this point, no one really knew if we would see the return of this franchise. Until, in 2011, when director Rupert Wyatt decided to go into the franchise with the film Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. A film said to be an origin story of a new series of films in this genre. This film is actually good, and very well made. The story of the monkey Cesar and scientist Will Rodman ( done by actor James Franco ), gave us a different perspective in the genre. The sequel Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, that came out 3 years later, proved to be even better, and one of the best action films of that year. So here we are, with the final film of this chapter, simply called War Of The Planet Of The Apes. Since i have seen all of the films from the past, i had to experience this final chapter in 3D, to see if this is a worthy ending. Is this one of the highlights of this year in cinemas, or is this final film of the franchise an ending we did not ask for ?

Two years after the U.S. military was called to fight off an increasingly and dangerous tribe of apes, The Apes Clan, led by chimpanzee Caesar ( Andy Serkis ). The Ape Clan is attacked in the forest by a rouge paramilitary known as Alpha-Omega, led by The Colonel ( Woody Harrelson ). The Ape Clan is not ready to give up, so attack against the military operation. Several soldiers are taken hostage to The Ape Clan. Ceasar command that the human soldiers will be released, but with a message to The Colonel, that he did not start this war. Caesar also want peace between humans and apes. The Colonel have no plan to make peace with the apes, he will make sure that humans will win, no matter what happens.

Knowing that this is supposed to be the final film of the Planet Of The Apes series ( from the 2011 sequel ), you want this film to be epic, with some majestic action scenes. The good news is that we do get a worthy ending. War Of The Planet Of The Apes proves that you can end a film series correctly, without making everything really cheesy. Those of you who read my review of the film Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, might remember how positive i was about this film. And i still feel that that film is one of the best film ever in this genre. In some ways i was kind of curious to see if they really could make a film even better than Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes. I can´t say that this final film is as good as the 2014 film, but i still feel that this ending have some really positive details to talk about. The CGI is amazing, and the way the monkeys react, communicate and make decisions looks gorgeous. The action scenes is once again one of the highlights, where you do get to see some epic battle scenes between monkeys and humans. There is also other interesting subjects in this film, where you begin to think, if humans and monkeys really are very different from each other, or do we have certain things in common? Caesar ( played brilliantly by Andy Serkis ), the monkey we have followed through the 3 latest films, have developed even more, and talk almost like a human now. He also reacts differently than before, and you can tell that this film tries to tell his side of the story, in a much deeper way than previous film. I like the fact that this film try to connect with the past, so you get a glimpse of how Caesar have managed to become more independent, and learned about human civilization. Woody Harrelson as the rough, selfish character The Colonel, is in my opinion one of the highlights of this film. His mean and hateful looks, against monkeys, shows you a man with a lot of psychological issues, where he solve this with alcohol and violence. Woody Harrelson proves that he is once again an actor, who knows how to make a character affect you. Actor Amiah Miller is also really good, as the mute Nova. Director Matt Reeves ( who have directed several really good films such as Cloverfield and Let Me In ), have returned to direct this final chapter. I will say this, his previous film Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is a bit emotionally stronger than the final chapter, but he still manage to deliver, both on an technical level, and telling the story in a very effective way. He clearly have a big passion for these films, and you can tell that from the way he made this final film so powerful. War For The Planet Of The Apes is a must see ending, to a franchise that have kept generations of movie lovers bedazzled in the cinema seats for many years. An epic ending, that hopefully will make you think about human behavior. 

Rating: DDDD