War for the Planet of the Apes

The relentless battles between apes and mankind are taking their toll, and forcing Caesar and his followers into the frozen wilderness where they encounter the megalomanic "Colonel" (Woody Harrelson). Tragically, coming off the worst at this meeting, the apes end up imprisoned by their new, ruthless, human masters - aided and abetted by some gorillas too - and used as little better than slaves. Adding to their woes, both sides know that an impending visit by some heavily armed troops is not in either of their interests! It now falls to "Caesar" to come up with a plan to free his species before they are all wiped out. Whilst I did quite enjoy this, it's not as good as the "Dawn..." (2014). It takes far too long to get going and Harrelson has all the menace of a cucumber sandwich. There is just too much dialogue (and sentiment) and Matt Reeves struggles to build, let alone sustain, the pace and menace that he did so well last time out. Although it is a bit on the long side, the last hour largely makes up most of these deficiencies as the plan for vengeance takes shape and the pyrotechnics go into overdrive. Good, but not great.

'War for the Planet of the Apes' wraps up a great trilogy strongly. I enjoyed this installment just as much as its two predecessors, all three films are just supremely entertaining and are very well put together. Caesar is a terrific character and continues to look fantastic in this; the special effects are top notch, even the way the apes are shown in shot is expertly done. The additions of Bad Ape and Nova are neat, too. I'd personally rank it above 'Dawn' but below 'Rise', though there isn't much between them at all. Intrigued to see where they go with the proposed spin-off(s).

The title _War for the Planet of the Apes_ is perhaps a misnomer, and it doesn't necessarily build the legend in the way I was expecting it to, but a worthy threequel it still makes, and blockbuster trilogy with no bad entries is a rare thing to see. _Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time._