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In the intro for the previous post, which focused on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, I briefly mentioned that I decided to prepare for the latest installment. Much like the previous two movies themselves, the previous two posts that covered them have been building up to this. Here are my thoughts on War for the Planet of the Apes.
The story picks up two years after the events of Dawn, with Caesar and his followers being hunted by a military group called Alpha-Omega, led by a Colonel determined to ensure humanity’s survival. The conflict escalates when the Colonel makes Caesar vulnerable, and Caesar wants to go after him, yet the Colonel is not his only problem. His intention of achieving peace between both humans and apes persists, but his past may come back to haunt him.
What Worked: The first cast member worth talking about is actually an up-and-comer, named Amiah Miller. She portrays Nova, a little girl who is befriended and looked after by Maurice. She is also mute due to a side effect of the Simian Flu (which has evolved by this point), and has a connection to a character from the original movies. As for her performance, she is excellent here, especially considering she has to rely more on her actions anyway.
The other human actor is perhaps the most well known one, and that is Woody Harrelson as the Colonel. Much like Dreyfus in the previous movie, his motivation is understandable. The main difference is Dreyfus wasn't necessarily a villain in that one, but the Colonel absolutely is here. This is also the first time where the main human character is actually an antagonist, and Caesar might have met his match with him. They have the same motivations with differing ideologies to go along with them. The Colonel is such a great villain that he might at least tie with Koba as the best villain of the trilogy, and it may take more thought to decide whether or not he managed to top him. That even applies to Woody Harrelson's performance when compared to that of Toby Kebbell as Koba.
As for the apes, the one actor aside from Andy Serkis who can be discussed without delving too much into spoilers is Steve Zahn as another new character: the comic relief known as "Bad Ape." There are some humorous moments with him, but they are at the level of "just enough"; the humor balances out with the tone. The placements of those moments in the story make sense, and because of that, Bad Ape is hilarious. He has an interesting backstory, and he's actually useful when the situation calls for it. He's one of the best characters in the movie because he's a great example of comic relief characters done right.
For the technical aspects, they will be discussed like in the previous post because it's basically the same case here. The story picks up some time after the events of the previous movie (except two years instead of ten). Despite that shorter timespan between movies, it works because it provides a sense of urgency in that there is very little downtime here. The story of the franchise itself has been expanded upon even further, like with the mention of the Simian Flu's evolution. The characters are developed to where even the new ones are interesting. The returning ones have satisfying conclusions to their stories, if this is indeed the final movie.
The apes may have looked good in Rise and great in Dawn, but here, they look flawless, especially Caesar. The effects are the best of the year. The performance by Andy Serkis is certainly a contender for best leading actor. Much like with Dawn, his performance, the effects, and the advancement in the story show that Caesar has grown from a rebel in Rise to a warrior in Dawn into a hardened leader here.
The direction and cinematography also make this movie somehow manage to be the best in the series, just when it might not have been possible to top the second one. With the cinematography in particular, there is a sense of scale due to how gorgeous it is.
Overall: War for the Planet of the Apes is a perfect example of a third installment that does everything right. It takes everything that made the first two movies work, and improves upon it in a way that tops them. As stated in the post on Rise, this series gets better with each installment. In fact, watching them all together makes it feel like one story, which allows the viewer to appreciate them that much more. It culminates in an ending that will leave them in shock and awe at how perfect it is. Simply put, there are no flaws with this one. War for the Planet of the Apes (as of right now) is the best movie of 2017, and despite being a fan, I am unsure if Star Wars: The Last Jedi can top it.