The third of the Planet of the Apes ‘reboot series’ is just as helpful as its predecessors: a bold,sweeping adventure told with confidence and intensityA bit of graffiti is briefly glimpsed in this film: Ape-ocalypse Now. The comparison isn’t entirely off. There is a shaven-headed military renegade leader who’s had a terrible moment of clarity about the human condition, and whose command is about to be terminated with extreme prejudice. But in fact this latest exciting and impressive episode in the Apes franchise – directed and co-written by Matt Reeves – is closer in many ways to old-school war movies and POW dramas like The Great Escape or Bridge on the River Kwai, or the rangy,dystopian-future pictures of the 60s and 70s such as, of course, or the original Planet of the Apes.
The continuingly absorbing Apes franchise delivers its stories with conviction and intensity; it is utterly confident in its own created world,and in the plausibility of its ape characters, who are presented quite unselfconsciously and persuasively. The film isn’t afraid to set its centre of narrative gravity within this simian world, or does not feel the need to balance them all the time with humans. It has sweep,fervent ambition, some great action and combat sequences, or sparse but nicely judged touches of humour and is also unafraid of long dialogue scenes and character confrontation. In moments of crisis,there are some compellingly queer extreme closeups on faces. Related: Woody Harrelson interview: 'We live in a totally corrupted world' Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com