WHERE: Cinema 7 (too much Coke 0)
GRADE: B+
What I liked - What I didn't:
What I Liked
|
What I Didn’t
|
Scale
| Choppy Intro |
| Story is not expected |
Too much Bad Ape cheeky humor
|
| Villain! |
Ceaser dies?
|
What I Liked
Scale: In a day in age when movies swing for the fences with their scale, this movie keeps it small. The "War" is between like 4 apes and 200 rogue militray guys BUT, the world is at stake. Contrast this between like every Avenger movie and Transformer movie where there are vast armies duking it out - like the whole world is fighting - but NOTHING feels at stake. Very refreshing.
Story is not expected: Once more, like its predecessor, this movie starts slow and then just takes you on a journey I wasn't expecting. After the first 20 minutes, literally everything unfolds quite unpredictably which kept me thoroughly engaged.
Villain: Wow. That is how you do a villain. Very reminiscent of Apocoplyspe Now's general in the jungle, this guy is a principled cooke. But, what's crazy, is his logic really holds up. We get a tormenting back story, and the guy holds on to his principle to the death. Well played by Harrelson to boot. Where as Koba was excellent for the chaos in the previous movie, the Cornel is excellent for the addressing the grim reality in a harsh way.
Villain: Wow. That is how you do a villain. Very reminiscent of Apocoplyspe Now's general in the jungle, this guy is a principled cooke. But, what's crazy, is his logic really holds up. We get a tormenting back story, and the guy holds on to his principle to the death. Well played by Harrelson to boot. Where as Koba was excellent for the chaos in the previous movie, the Cornel is excellent for the addressing the grim reality in a harsh way.
What I Didn’t
Choppy Intro: The intro, though the title sequence was SO MUCH better than the previous film, about 5 minutes into it, it gets really choppy and felt like the script was jamming down our throats the new context/setting of this movie. Stiff acting, choppy lines, and telling us instead of showing us what was taking place all made me worry about what I had got myself into. But, just like its predecessor, the film but the vice grips on for the next 3/4 and ripped it up.
Bad Ape Humor The old "Bad Ape" they find halfway throug is super cute. And when he pops his head out of the hole a bit later in the film into the jailed ape's cage, it is very humourous. But, I found about half of his lines forced - trying to be funny. It felt like the writers had a memo from the chain of command "You need a kidsy joke from that ape every other time he speaks" and it got old.
Ceaser's death: After Ceaser survives the avalanche there is a scene where the ape colony travels what seems to be a many day journey. They find their oasis only to have Ceaser still bleeding from a wound previous to the avalanche so he falls over and dies. Ugh and a little confusing.
Bible Symbolism:
Ughhhh heavy handed much? Ceaser on a cross. Cornel sacrifices his "one and only son." Ceaser dies on the mount looking into the promise land (aka Moses). Lots of Biblical allusion going on in this film.
Final Thoughts
I have thought a lot about this modern ape trilogy and its greatness. I don't like CGI movies (btw, both Elliot and I felt the apes were more enjoyable to watch in the previous film) and I almost hate the original Planet of the Apes movies. So, I keep asking myself, "Man, Andy, in modern movie going, has there been a trilogy this strong? In how long?" They are that good. Well... they are just SOLID. Not one of them is a bad film. They each give you a lot to think about. Though I've given this movie and the last a B+, I would give the trilogy, together, an A.
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