WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

"Apes. Together. Strong."

The genius of the new Planet of the Apes films is just that. They're genius. They represent exactly what a reboot of a beloved franchise should be: They change the story just enough to keep it fresh for modern audiences whilst respecting and embracing the work that has come before. 2011's Rise was a great start for the new series, and 2014's Dawn was possibly one of the best sequels I've ever seen. I've long been looking forward to the next installment of this nothing short of brilliant franchise, and now it's here.

The story of this installment, when you look at it in its most basic form, is a story of family and revenge. And it's very powerful. After Caesar's colony of apes suffers huge losses during a human ambush, he must set off on a vengeful quest and balance his own demons at the same time as an all-out war between humans and apes looms on the horizon. Strong stories have been a staple of this new series of films, starting with more personal and small-scale stories in Rise, and growing in stakes ever since, and this film's story doesn't disappoint. The mix of both big scale scenes and smaller ones is near perfect, and while parts of the story are slow, they aren't by any means boring. In fact, if you look back at the last two films, the majority of their scenes are slow, and yet they make up two great movies.

Thinking about it, War's smaller scenes are where it truly shines in a way that so few films do these days. One scene in particular, stands out from the rest...

I won't go into a huge amount of detail of the story surrounding the scene, because if you're going to watch the film, you should experience it for yourself, but I will say this: Like so many of the series' smaller moments, this one is genuinely moving, and gives the film a huge amount of depth, which it utilises nearly perfectly.

Speaking of near perfection in the film, I'd like to speak about the special effects for a moment. We live in an age now where CGI is getting better by the day, and it means we get to see more and more impossible things brought to life on the big screen. That being said, sometimes, once in a while, a film will come along which blows others completely out of the water. Enter War for the Planet of the Apes. To be fair, each of the new films have had CGI that's been nothing short of spectacular, which they've needed, seeing as most of the main characters are CGI-created apes. But there's something about this film. In fact, there was one moment in particular, and luckily enough I've found an image which hopefully serves it justice...

See what I mean? That is one realistic looking orangutan. In fact, if I'm being completely honest, I had to ask myself for a brief moment if it was a prop, because CGI, even at the top of it's game, is rarely that believeable. But for this film at least, you better believe it, and that CGI is only ever used to better the film, and it thrives because of it.

The film features a flurry of famous faces, with some new coming to the franchise. However, it's the series' lead Andy Serkis that once again shines through as best performance.

In this film, Caesar is past his sign language days and can now speak in full sentences. Very few actors can bring a realistic talking ape to life, but Serkis is perfect for the job. Not only does he give his best performance as Caesar yet, he also brings his absolute A game throughout the film, and it very nearly rivals his performances as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films. Serkis gives his character huge depth and brings the Caesar's inner conflicts to the big screen perfectly. You may not be able to see his face, but you'll certainly praise his performance.

To sum up then, War for the Planet of the Apes is a damn good film which carries the high expectations of it's recent predecessors while referencing it's older ones in increasingly clever ways, much like Rise and Dawn did. There are slower moments in the film, admittedly more so than the last two films, but they're used well and in fact provide some of the best moments. Michael Giacchino brings a hugely powerful score as well, and it stands out from the start as the series' best to date. It's rare these days I watch a film and can't think of a single thing I would change about it, but this is one of those films. It is the perfect film to carry on the new series' story, and the ending, whether a fourth film is made or not, is exactly what I was hoping it would be. Matt Reeve's skills as a director continue to better the series, and I for one can't wait for his take on Batman. Fans of the series are more than likely to love this film, and rightly so.