War for the Planet of the Apes Movie Review

War for the Planet of the Apes, which is part of the long-running sci-fi/action movie series, is the third movie focusing on intelligent ape leader Caesar (Andy Serkis). It's heavy on fantasy violence, with guns and shooting, arrows, missiles, and explosions. Some bloody wounds are shown, though there's not much gore overall. Apes are imprisoned, hung on crosses, whipped, and forced to work. Characters die, and one character commits suicide off screen. Language is mild, with sparing use of "goddamn" and "Jesus Christ." The movie is very smart and subtly discusses issues of how fear can lead to problems like slavery and war. But Caesar isn't exactly a role model, since he chooses to seek revenge (though he does pay a price). Overall the movie is a great combination of exciting and thought provoking, worth enjoying as well as discussing.

The film is directed by Matt Reeves who directed the previous installment "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014). Reeves debuted for the first time as director in "Future Shock" (1994), a film of terror and science fiction composed of three histories each directed by a director, own Reeves, Eric Parkinson and Oley Sassone. His script for the sequel "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" (1995), starring Steven Seagal, opened the door to commercial cinema, giving him the opportunity to film his first romantic comedy The Pallbearer (1996) To David Schwimmer and Julie Gwyneth Paltrow. Over the next decade, Reeves focused his work on television, directing an episode for the series "Relativity" (1997), "Homicide, Life on the Street" (1997) and "Gideon's Crossing" (2000); And then creating, along with his friend Abrams, the famous series "Felicity" (1998), of which he directed six episodes, including the pilot, was executive producer of 60 episodes and screenwriter of the 84 episodes of the series. His only purely cinematographic work in this decade was limited to writing the screenplay for James Gray's second film, "The Yards" (2000). Again from the hand of J.J. Abrams, in the role of producer, Reeves returned to the cinema directing the successful mockumentary of science fiction and catastrophes Monstrous (2008). From the alien monster "Cloverfield" to the vampire horror remake Let Me In (2010), remake of the multi-award-winning Swedish film "Låt den rätte komma in" (2008) and both based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist. After this title Reeves focused completely on "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014) and its sequel.

WHAT'S THE STORY?
In WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, Caesar (Andy Serkis), the apes' intelligent leader, has just won the battle of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, but more troops are coming. As Caesar ponders his options, his home is attacked by soldiers, with tragic results. Caesar decides to move his tribe to a new location, but thirst for revenge causes him to hit the road, seeking the colonel responsible for the attack. He's accompanied by Maurice (Karin Konoval), Rocket (Terry Notary), and Luca (Michael Adamthwaite). On the road, they meet a young girl (Amiah Miller), whose voice and mannerisms seem to have been affected by something. They also meet a zoo ape, called "Bad Ape" (Steve Zahn), who helps. Eventually, Caesar meets the Colonel (Woody Harrelson), but he must face his toughest challenges before everything ends.

MOVIE INFO
Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, thematic elements, and some disturbing images)
Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama
Directed By: Matt Reeves
Written By: Mark Bomback, Matt Reeves
In Theaters: Jul 14, 2017 Wide
Runtime: 140 minutes
Music: Michael Giacchino
Cinematography: Michael Seresin
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Principal Cast: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Judy Greer, Gabriel Chavarria, Max Lloyd-Jones, Terry Notary