War for the Planet of the Apes

A good prequel trilogy! Take that, Star Wars!  Looking at this through the context of the original from 1968, it's hard to know who to root for. The humans in this are horrible to the apes, but you think "Well, they kind of deserve this, because they do the same thing to us in the original." And yet you still sympathize with them. We're rooting for the bad guys and yet...we're not. The motion capture on the apes is amazing! Not since "Avatar" has there been such impressive effects. (Although I may redact that statement after I see "Valerian", but we'll see...) The detail on each ape is exquisite. If it weren't for the apes riding horseback and wielding guns, you would think this was a nature documentary. Woody Harrelson does a great job, although at some points it does feel like a repeat of his character from "The Hunger Games." As far as who to root for, it's hard to decide. Neither side is definitively good or evil. Some of the humans are horrible, but some just want to leave the apes alone, and have the war come to them. Some of the apes are even on the human side. The action sequences in this were way over the top (in a good way.) I honestly don't know how this film could be improved. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Most times I say "I really enjoyed the movie except for this, this and this," but that didn't happen here. The emotion was so well conveyed. It makes you hate your own species and cry over a bunch of CGI Apes. Kind of ridiculous out loud, but it's so well written and acted, I wouldn't be suprised if this gets nominated for a few Oscars when awards season comes around.

Grade: A+    10/10     5/5 stars