The third film in a trilogy is rarely the best. There's some precedent though. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly for example. Or Toy Story 3. Or Three Colours : White (imo). Now there's another example. This. A brilliant, bleak, brutal film. Misleading title though.
Years after a virus has decimated the human population of earth, apes are the dominant species. Intelligent apes. As intelligent as man. Maybe more so. The remainder of the US army is out to decimate them. The apes are led by Caesar and the humans are led by The Colonel. A skirmish between ape and man leads to tragedy and Caesar sets out get his revenge.
This was just great. Easily the blockbuster of the year so far and a solid contender for any year end top ten list. A grim, hellish vision of what war leads to. Brutally violent in places ( it's a 12 cert film but it's really not for kids), bleak all over, beautiful looking and totally engaging. The title makes the film sound like an all out war film but it isn't at all. Most of the action is kept for the beginning and the end of the film with the middle devoted to the journey. And the film is the better for it. We get a deeper insight into the characters, how they interact, what makes them tick and see the brutality and empathy they are all capable of. Brief pockets of humour and kindness give us some much needed relief too. Without them the film would be too unrelenting. A flower placed behind an ear, a funny little hat and jacket, a hug, a mishap with binoculars, all lovely little welcome moments.
Andy Serkis, hidden behind the face of Caesar owns the film. He pushes the limit of what a CGI character can be once again. Amazing acting, in both words and gestures and just the look in his eyes. His rage pulsates off the screen as he battles to stop his hate overtaking him. If he doesn't get nominated for a clutch off awards next year it will be a joke. Woody Harrelson is top notch as The Colonel (we never hear his name) too. An utter bastard but not a one note pantomime villain, as we find out later in the film. I love Harrelson as a baddie. He always brings an air of unpredictability and danger to his roles and has it here in spades. Karin Konoval as Maurice is excellent too. A mostly silent performance but still the loveable, kind, beating heart of the film. The hilarious Steve Zahn plays the newcomer, Bad Ape and adds a lovely touch of lightness to proceedings too.
The special effects are amazing. Caesar and the rest of the chimps have lost that artificial sheen they had in the earlier films and look photo realistic but the best effects are still the Gorillas and especially Maurice the Orangutan. It's hard to believe he's made up of pixels and isn't a living animal presence.
It's a tribute to the effects by Weta Digital and the motion capture performances of the actors that we empathise so much with CGI characters. That we want to see them succeed over humans. It's amazing just how real and substantial they feel. You'll forget you are looking at a special effect about 3 minutes into the film.
Beautiful looking film too. Director Matt Reeves is back for his second Apes film and he has a great eye for location and making the most of those locations. The earlier parts of the film are set in the lovely Californian forests of the other 2 films and the second half of the film moves into the snowy Sierra Nevada and the scenery is just glorious. It all invokes a western feel too, scene of horses riding through snow and mountains reminded me of both The Searchers and The Revenant.
One downside. There's always a downside. It's too long. The middle section could lose 5-10 minutes easily and it would tighten up the flow of the film.
As much as I've enjoyed these films I hope this is the last one. It's a pretty perfect ending and any more would just feel forced.
A powerful summer blockbuster that packs a serious punch but one with a brain and a heart too and one that will probably make ya cry as well. A lovely rarity.
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