written by Mark Bomback and Matt Reeves
2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes held a unique place in the summer blockbuster scene. Despite certain issues such as uninteresting human characters, it was nuanced and ambitious in ways that few of its contemporaries were. It depicted a tense situation between the titular apes and the world of men, and offered both positive and negative actors on each side, and boasted a lot of depth in its characterization and ambition in its narrative which are still rarely seen in films of this budget. It was a dark, somber, and long blockbuster, but it paid off with narrative profundity even if it wasn't always much fun.
The final installment of this trilogy, War for the Planet of the Apes, is still impressive for its sympathetic characterization and soaring ambition, and it's easily the most technically accomplished film of the trilogy, but somewhere between the two films, something was lost. War is a film which strives for narrative depth while shying away from anything which might compromise its black-and-white morality, and while the film is still gorgeous and more exciting than its predecessor, it still takes itself too seriously to justify its simplicity.
It ain't bad, but I wish I saw what the rest of you see in this.
