SKumm’s Thoughts - WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

SKumm’s Thoughts

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (2017, PG-13, 140 Minutes, CHERNIN ENTERTAINMENT/20^TH CENTURY FOX)

I will never tire of trying to convince you of how incredible an actor Andy Serkis is.

No, you don’t get to see his face all that much—not his actual, “my momma gave me this face” face.  He is the go-to artist when it comes to motion capture performances, and there is a damn good reason for that (see: that last bit where I referred to him as an “artist”).  He made Gollum believable, made Kong breathtaking and relatable, and has brought an unlikely ape named “Caesar” to us for three PLANET OF THE APES films.  For the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to pass him up for—at bare minimum—an Oscar nomination is a travesty to the fine art of acting. 

Remember when they cast Robert Downey Jr as IRON MAN?  Or Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk?  They were cast in those roles because of how they fit the character perfectly.  No one but Marlon Brando could have played Kurtz in APOCALYPSE NOW, no one on earth could have done a better job at bringing a war ravaged ex-soldier to life than Christopher Walken in THE DEER HUNTER.  Throw in Robin Williams as MRS DOUBTFIRE, Lon Chaney as THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and Harrison Ford as INDIANA JONES.  All examples of perfect casting, some hidden under heavy makeup, others not.

So, when you take an actor, cover him with sensors, and turn him into an ape, well… you might be able to do that with anyone, but not just anyone can make you believe they are an ape.

Serkis can.  His performance in WAR is devastatingly honest.  Forced from their home in the woods, Caesar goes on a hunt for the man known only as “The Colonel” (Woody Harrelson, who breathes more life into a one-note character than you would think possible—if the series has any failings, it’s that the humans are typically depicted by singular emotions, whereas the apes get all of the emotional journey).  The Colonel is responsible for way too many ape deaths, and is supposedly mounting one final assault.  Caesar feels he has no choice but to hunt this one human down, no matter how many soldiers the Colonel commands.  What follows is kind of a cross between UNFORGIVEN and THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI; it is a monkey road trip for redemption/revenge, and an internment camp drama, all rolled up in a fast paced two hours and twenty-minute roller coaster.

It marks a fitting end to a series that redefined the remake, and made the effort of re-telling a story more successful with its stark execution and brilliant animation. Matt Reeves, who co-wrote this installment and directed both it and the last, knows how to keep the mood he set up in the last film, even if this is an entirely differently paced film than DAWN.  The effects have only gotten better, and the addition of Steve Zahn as “Bad Ape” lends this film more humor than that tonally serious second one had.  Reeves knows the strengths of this series, and his pacing is perfect, as is the cinematography by Michael Seresin (who also shot DAWN, and a little movie in 1978 called MIDNIGHT EXPRESS).

The true winner here, though, is Serkis.  He may not be the first artist to have played Caesar, but he is the best.

Film Grade: A

-- T.S. Kummelman