Review: "War for the Planet of the Apes" Ends the Trilogy on a Satisfying Yet Predictable Note

Scene from War for the Planet of the Apes

In a time where spoiler culture is frowned upon, it becomes baffling that a franchise like Planet of the Apes is as popular as it is. After all, the reboot prequels that began in 2011 are building towards the back half of the title. In theory, there should be nothing exciting about seeing the birth of a planet of apes. However, director Matt Reeves has found a way to not only make it compelling, but use revolutionary technology to make gripping stories full of rich empathy and powerful allegories of the modern time. With the final piece of the new trilogy, War for the Planet of the Apes, he gets us to the final destination. Is it satisfying? In a sense, yes. However, it's more of the same from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (for better or worse) and it keeps the story from being more than a dark and sometimes too brooding parable of modern militarism and xenophobic ignorance. It's satisfying, but it's very much the third part of a trilogy at the same time.

Review: "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is the Most Impressive, Ambitious Blockbuster of the Summer

In 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes came out like an unforeseen force as it destroyed notions of the Apes franchise as being campy. As it climbed over the Golden Gate Bridge to sanctuary, there were glimpses of not only a violent uprising to follow, but of how impressively it mixed storytelling with cutting edge visual effects. It tore apart any pretension that man didn't influence environment (in this case negatively) and provided plenty to fear. The new Apes movies wouldn't chew scenery. It would commentate on society via a more slick, dark, and inspiring model that destroys all of its blockbuster counterparts with sheer energy. For those thinking that Rise of the Planet of the Apes felt slight at all, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is an adrenaline shot pushing morals and commentary even further with an all out war between apes and man. More-so than nihilistic counterpart Godzilla, this film packs one of the most amazing punches in a blockbuster with nonstop action that is used effectively for commentary. To sum it up, the Apes franchise is one of the most unexpectedly relevant.