REVIEW #25 The Planet of The Apes Trilogy (2011-2017)

The Planet of The Apes trilogy consists of three films directed by Matt Reeves; ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ and finally ‘War of The Planet of The Apes’. The films follow Caesar an ape enhanced with a drug that allows him to think and act like a human, eventually becoming smarter than most humans too. In first film we see Caesar witness injustice and cruelty towards apes and he then decides to revolt and escape. Meanwhile the drug is tested on humans which creates a disease that wipes out most of the population. The second film we see him work towards peace with the remaining humans but eventually war breaks out, which leads to the final film.

CAST & THE ACTING (9/10)

Andy Serkis plays Caesar and is also responsible for the motion capture for him which requires serious talent to imitate and move like apes. Andy has a great reputation for motion capture acting in Hollywood and is certainly one of the best around! Other big names appear throughout the trilogy, such as James Franco, Gary Oldman, Tom Felton, Woody Harrelson and Jason Clarke. I think the acting was really good and as I mentioned above the motion capture in this film is excellent so I believe it deserved a great score here!

PLOT & THE STORYLINE (8.5/10)

I liked the storyline and although this is a reimagined version of the classic films from years ago I do feel like this new trilogy is by far the best. The storyline is believable as animal testing unfortunately still happens across the world so it’s not actually too far fetched that apes may begin to become far more intelligent as a result. The story unfolds perfectly across the three films and is really easy to follow. The storyline has plenty of action but what I did like is how they’ve captured key ape social behaviours and incorporated them in nicely as well, which provides a good accurate base.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS (9/10)

Finally a film full of great special effects I can talk about! I have to give a really good score here, the CGI is amazing in these films. Especially in the 2nd and 3rd instalments, if you can watch them in 4K UHD please do because it really was amazing! Not only are the apes CGI great but the visual effects for the scenery are really good too. The cinematography does so well to capture the action packed scenes but also the more intimate, emotional scenes.

OVERALL (8.8/10)

I loved these films, I managed to watch the last two in 4K Ultra HD and it was completely worth it. The CGI and visual effects are brilliant to watch and the storyline is gripping and entertaining in all three films. The motion capture from all the actors involved is extraordinary so big compliments to them for bringing these characters to life on screen. I think most people would really enjoy these films so I would recommend them to anyone really! I think the first two are available for free across different platforms like Amazon prime and Disney+ but I did have to rent the last one but check them out if you can!

Thanks for reading!

Callan