If I Had Legs I’d Kick You digs deep into the darkest corners of the human souls, of the ugliest thoughts that plague our minds, and the crippling anxiety and depression that traps us in the most banal of existences. Rose Byrne gives one of the most demanding, devastating, and furious performances of the last decade, as a woman suffocated by the horror and weakness of her being, confined by the truths of her situation and lacking the strength to find meaning or love in any of it. The remarkable filmmaking and camerawork allows us to pinpoint exactly how Linda interacts with her surroundings, without having to imagine any of what she’s feeling. The dread that anything is about to go wrong, that it’s all your fault, and that this excruciating guilt is forever. The feelings are so tangible to the audience, yet their roots of why she feels responsible for the life she hates are intangible and ambiguous for much of the film.
Byrne’s character channels universal struggles, including with motherhood, while taking them to the most extreme depths and circumstances. However, we’re never brought to think that she’s a bad person, simply someone who’s isolated and unable to cry for help or carry herself along with those around her. As Linda is inconvenienced with a gaping hole in the roof of her house, the hole metaphorically grows and becomes one with her.
The final few minutes are haunting and left me dumbfounded. The nightmarish imagery and dark humor play off each other to create a final product that’s arguably more stressful than any horror movie could be. This movie left me dumbfounded and at a loss for words, one of the most anxiety-inducing, uncomfortable, and emotionally raw films I’ve seen in a while. It’s a one-of-a-kind film, with an astounding and unforgettable lead performance, that shook me to my core.
When seventeen children from the same class all disappear one night, a community is sent reeling and forced to deal with the terrifying consequences.
Weapons is a film that bids farewell to all the tropes we’re used to in even the best of modern horror movies, throwing us first into how a community is affected by such cruel and unexplainable loss. Julia Garner is at the film’s heart as a gentle teacher who suddenly loses all but one of her students — and is quickly blamed by her peers for it. Garner is immediately bondable with the audience due to her desire for answers and peace amidst her unfair situation. But on the other side of the public tensions is what comes off as rage but reveals itself to be fear and desperation in Josh Brolin’s performance as a father hellbent on finding his missing son. His hardness reveals itself as pain and vulnerability and stands out among many others of the actor’s roles.
Though writer-director Zach Cregger sets out to make Weapons feel far more patient than other horror films, he also goes for broke structurally, stylistically, and graphically. The editing, score, and cinematography are chilling, with moments that may end up in modern horror classic territory. Cregger retains some of his previous film Barbarian‘s DNA, such as jumps in time and perspective — some less interesting than others yet necessary for the film’s slow revelation of its mysteries. Within the film’s title lies many of the answers, including the weapon of the human soul itself: the harm that we can inflict or can be inflicted on us. But it’s because the film does hold back so much, and for so much of its runtime, that everything clicks so beautifully. We see and learn just as much as we need to in order to be asking the right questions, and hopelessly guessing what might really be going on here. Once you reach the end of Weapons, you may find yourself equal parts terrified and delighted, but its unraveling will make your heart sink and your legs shake. Weapons is bold and extraordinary even in today’s ever challenging horror landscape. Cregger’s cynical and at times darkly humorous lens fits perfectly into a modern folk tale of sorts that radiates the kind of singular originality felt in M. Night Shyamalan’s golden days of making thrillers. In this epic yet personal horror film, the scares aren’t nearly the whole point, but the whole point is seriously scary — just not in all the ways you’d expect.
Twin brothers Smoke and Stack return to their hometown to open a blues club for a fresh start, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
Ryan Coogler, one of the most impactful filmmakers to come out of the last decade, creates his most original, commanding, and dazzling film, a kind many have been waiting to see for a long time. Coogler gets free reign to blend genres with unique storytelling on a larger scale than we’ve seen before. The characters leap off the page and screen with their wonderful portrayals from Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, and Delroy Lindo, as well as a more menacing turn from Jack O’Connell. As both Smoke and Stack, Jordan plays characters who aren’t free of moral question marks but still worth rooting for, and have excellent romances with Mosaku and Steinfeld, while Lindo has brilliant moments of reflection, strength, and humor.
The film portrays America in the 1930s as a place of difficulty and strive, with a system built to oppress black Americans, but in the main characters’ blues club, a dazzling, one-of-a-kind portrayal of black culture and music in a safe space of untouched, booming joy. The music is a language of its own in the film, not just another magnificent score by Ludwig Goransson, but the way music inspires and drives the characters across generations of their history. Music in the film is its own plane of sacred storytelling and unity, and it’s brought to life with roaring energy that the audience can enjoy yet by moved by. The cinematography by Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who also collaborated with Coogler on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, also takes the film to another level, with distance between objects, characters, and backgrounds — or mere darkness — creating a weight in its shock. The film develops its characters in a world that’s breathing and moving around them in unexpected and exciting ways, even before the blues kicks in, and far before the horror action elevates the film to yet another level of mastery. The bloody violence is unpredictable and riveting to look at, and balances the line between horrific and irresistibly fun.
Though an ending scene stretches out and explains the themes too excessively, Sinners brings together genres and a remarkable cast full of life and heart that spreads to the audience. The visionary cinematography, music, and costume design compliment a story that’s filled with as much adoration for the immersive settings it creates as it is deeply hinting at themes of the system’s attempts to appropriate and erase black culture and history, and much more beneath the surface. Not only does it work for action, horror, or thriller fans, but it’s a beautiful piece of storytelling that only comes every few years. Not quite like any blockbuster we’ve seen, Sinners is a journey of pride, terror, and legend that needs to be experience on the big screen, solidifying Ryan Coogler as one of our great modern filmmakers who deserves all the more creative freedom and spotlight that’s coming his way.
Two of New York City’s most notorious organized crime bosses vie for control of the city’s streets. Once best friends, petty jealousies and a series of betrayals set them on a deadly collision course.
Robert De Niro playing an infamous mobster is nothing new. But De Niro playing TWO mobsters? Throw in legendary director Barry Levinson of Bugsy, Rain Man, and Good Morning, Vietnam, now that’s something worth writing home about, right? Unfortunately, The Alto Knights is anything but; a film with maybe some potential on set that was completely butchered in the editing room. De Niro’s dual performance is supposed to fascinate the audience but instead distracts. Frank Costello and Vito Genovese are not presented in the film as being two sides of the same coin, as were the mobster twin brothers Kray, played by Tom Hardy in Legend. In this film, the two mobsters are depicted as not just of different families and mannerisms but of different ages, experiences, and motivations. When De Niro finally shares the screen with himself, it’s impossible to buy these disparities as the script depicts them, rather we buy them more like equals under different heaps of makeup, which was not the intention. As Costello, De Niro is giving something between a less soulful version of his turn in The Irishman, a less extravagant version of his turn in The Untouchables, and a less funny version of his turn in Analyze This. He’s interesting as Genovese, but casting another actor to oppose him would’ve worked better to show that one of these gangsters is actually much more frightening than the other.
The film recycles tired tropes of past popular mob films, and as I’ve alluded to here, many of them already star the great De Niro. Though some scenes are at least mediocre in their execution, the editing is horrendous and makes some scenes unwatchable. The film insists on blasting through most scenes like a documentary montage rather than letting scenes breathe and feel like a thrilling drama. The constant narration and barrages of exposition are condescending to its audience of a normally intelligent genre, but insists on feeding us information we could’ve learned through context clues within scenes. The poor dialogue can’t be salvaged by lacking performances from Debra Messing and Cosmo Jarvis, the latter of whose promising transformation never quite gets to shine. Moreover, there never feels like an escalation of tension or events when there feels like we should be building towards something, rather a lack of setup that also leads to a lack of reward. The Alto Knights starts on a bad foot, and never even hints at a chance to redeem itself. Even De Niro and crime film fans need not waste their time, in theaters or at home.
Sing Sing takes place in the titular New York prison and focuses on inmates involved in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program, as they work through their traumas to find redemption through acting.
Colman Domingo beautifully leads this film as one of the only actors not starring as themselves, opening us to a completely different side of him from his turn in Rustin, but equally moving and majestic. His charisma and soul commands the screen like not many actors can, balancing authority in his efforts to strengthen camaraderie throughout the RTA’s production at Sing Sing, and a longing to leave his imprisonment and prove his innocence from a crime he’s doing time for that he didn’t commit. He makes us deeply care for Divine G’s struggle but his “performance within a performance” scenes are also impossible to look away from. Paul Raci is also lovely as the RTA director encouraging the inmates to open up and unlock their deepest feelings through the process of acting and imagination. Besides those two Oscar nominees, almost everyone else is a veteran of the RTA program playing themselves, unlocking a naturalistic sincerity in not just the characters but the experience (similar to watching Frances McDormand interact with real-life nomads in Nomadland).
As these inmates find the hidden parts of themselves and get in touch with their most vulnerable sides, the experience of watching Sing Sing becomes just that for the audience. We’re left reflecting on our own livelihoods we’ve taken for granted, and the times we may have felt trapped and longed to escape from realities of our own. Acting is not just redemption for these characters we grow to feel deeply for — it reinvigorates their love for being alive, and reminds them of something to fight for, including their brothers on the stage with them. The film frames this rehabilitative process as a reclamation of the self, even behind bars where people are often treated as, well, less than people. It’s a rare experience that breaks down barriers and makes us feel close to characters that would often frighten us from the outside in any other film. Beyond those discussions about empathy it may stir within us, the film is kind-hearted and funny even amidst the most difficult of settings. In this mix of Oscar-nominated actors alongside a number of men playing themselves, the real often blends with the scripted, both for the characters and the art, that invites audiences for a complex but loving and extraordinary drama of raw and beautiful storytelling.
Set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been regressed to a feral state. One young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
More Apes after the conclusion of the incredible Caesar trilogy with War for the Planet of the Apes sounded too cash-grabby and too soon. What was wise on the filmmakers’ behalf was to treat this installment not as a direct sequel or reboot, but a slight reset of sorts as we pick up 300 years later, focusing on the legacy of the apocalypse and Caesar’s leadership. Apes are no longer living in fear of humans, rather Earth has become their planet, which creates an intriguing new setting that still doesn’t quite undo the finality of the last film. Ever present is the amazing dedication to the visuals and world-building. The motion-capture technology used to transform the actors into chimps, and the performances themselves, are impressive and make you forget for the entire 2 hour and 25 minute runtime that you’re watching performers rather than real apes in this world. Though Andy Serkis as Caesar was an iconic leading character that’s impossible to top, Owen Teague gives a sympathetic performance as Noa who strongly takes us on this adventure in this new era for the planet. Peter Macon also stand out as the wise Raka, and Freya Allan is especially expressive in her deep performance as human character Mae, though the script missteps in where to take her path later on. Kevin Durand gives such a committed presence to the villainous and tyrannical Proximus, a more charismatic version of the manipulative and sadistic Koba from Dawn. Proximus’ dialogue and physicality dominates whatever else is in the screen and truly terrifies, and his objective is quite menacing as well. However, his motivations, compared to Koba (who many ranked as one of the 2010s’ best villains), leave less room for moral grey area and rather feel like “pure evil”; there’s no layer or nuance to the terror Proximus wants to inflict or how he got there, though I can’t complain as to how well Durand brings the character to life.
Kingdom is most interesting when focusing on the apes’ new ways and how Caesar’s legacy impacts the sects of apes in different ways. But gone is the intrigue of the human-ape conflict and its undertones for human nature, though the film doesn’t understand this and often dwells too much in conflicts that War had ended with such finality, instead of embracing its other themes as its strengths. There’s also a character played by a recognizable Oscar nominee who’s entire being there felt unnecessary and simply complicates the logic of the world building further. The film isn’t short on great action and visuals in this imaginative, lively, post-apocalyptic world. It’s just that when you have two practically perfect films in the franchise preceding it, as Matt Reeves helmed them, it’s harder for this film to escape that shadow especially when the last one ended so definitively and didn’t beg for any sort of ambiguity or continuation. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is an engaging ride that should probably be seen on a large screen, even when it stumbles in justifying its existence and polishing its character motivations. Not to mention, it may have just been to soon for this inevitable continuation to a perfect ending, and the film’s final minutes raise more unnecessary questions that undo what we just saw than exciting invitations for more.
Following the events of the predecessor, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. With both A Quiet Place and its sequel that’s now playing in theaters everywhere, John Krasinski has proven himself to be not only an awesome actor but a master filmmaker. It worries me whenever a studio greenlights a sequel to a great film that stands alone perfectly, but A Quiet Place Part II is one of the rare occasions where the sequel lives up the original, and not only that, but along with that 2018 film, is one of the best horror/thrillers of recent years. A lot of it is thanks to Krasinski’s direction and the style which made the concept and storytelling of the first film so memorable. The opening sequence is nail-biting and even though the violence is kept at a PG-13 level, the film knows where and how to scare most effectively with showing and not showing certain things. For example, we see scenes from characters’ perspectives so the aliens and action aren’t always in the frame but sometimes in the background. The cinematography and editing are great as well, but it’s the sound editing that makes the movie. It’s the small noises that make you terrified for the characters as they try to survive among creatures who can track them based on any small noise from a distance, and the sound creates its own tension without a single jump scare. The loud sound effects of the monsters contrast this excellently and make this a terrific theater experience.
Emily Blunt may be at her best in this series as a mother trying to protect her kids, including a newborn, from otherworldly threats that are a family’s worst nightmare. Cillian Murphy is also excellent as a new addition to the cast, a cynical, hopeless survivor who is changed by his time with the Abbott family. Millicent Simmonds, the deaf actress who plays the deaf daughter in the film, may be the film’s heroine as she takes on challenges courageously and delivers a stellar performance, with not only some of the most positive deaf representation I’ve ever seen in film but all around a brilliant actor and lead role. Noah Jupe, who plays the son/brother, is again excellent, and he’s proven himself with these films as well as his magnificent roles in 2019’s Ford v Ferrari and Honey Boy. And even with just a cameo, Krasinski himself makes his presence felt throughout the film, passing the courage and good-ness of his character from the last film into his children and the world of the movie. Beyond the brilliant scares, which are only strengthened by techniques such as cross-cutting that Krasinski marvelously uses to make scenes more powerful and symbolic, the film retains the heart that made its predecessor so emotional — in every frame and line, this is a movie about a monster apocalypse, but also about parenthood, family, human survival, and hope. And one can’t help but think that with a family taking back their world by venturing back into the unknown and fighting back against the apocalypse, it’s a perfect film to represent our return to theaters. I, for one, had not been to the theaters since Tenet last August, when some screens briefly reopened, and this is an impeccable choice to return to the big screen with for the thrills, sound, and amazing effects and story that will more than satisfy those who know what they’re in for, and for the shared experience we’ve been longing to have back and can finally experience for a new blockbuster once again.
The final chapter of the legendary story that’s spanned generations, The Rise of Skywalker follows the Resistance taking a final stand against the First Order, as Rey, the last of the lightsaber-wielding Jedi, prepares to face off against the Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker takes the challenge of concluding a culturally treasured story that’s spanned four decades head-on, yet sacrifices something important in the process. Part of Star Wars is taking you away from reality and over to a galaxy far, far away, and this film succeeds at making the eye-popping visuals stand out in every shot, especially if you watch it in 3D, as you should for every Star Wars movie considering the grand scale they have to offer. John Williams, one of the real MVPs of the franchise, has composed every film in this saga and once again stuns with his beautiful musical scores. The cast still has plenty of energy and heart, especially the trio of protagonists — Daisy Ridley’s Rey shows plenty of emotion and energy and it’s hard not to love her character as she embarks on the final chapter of her adventure, and John Boyega’s Finn, as well as Oscar Isaac’s Poe, are very lovable as the daring fighters who are eager to lead and defeat the First Order for the greater good of the galaxy. It’s difficult not to enjoy whenever the lovable Chewbacca, C3P0, or BB-8 are on-screen either. The late Carrie Fisher also appears as General Leia, and although her appearance is very small, it’s a welcome and bittersweet one. Also returning from the original trilogy are Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams as galactic legends Luke and Lando — if only they had a bit more to do on screen, though. Unfortunately, nobody really gets a meaningful arc this time except Rey, but even her arc gets muddled and confusing by a decision that harms the emotional weight of the previous two installments. Not even Adam Driver, who plays the main antagonist in Episodes VII and VIII, gets much to do. In the last film, Kylo Ren became the Supreme Leader of the First Order, but instead of utilizing that brilliant and original idea of having a young, conflicted boy become the head of the evil, tyrannical organization, he ends up answering to Palpatine for most of the film, and I’m not sure if Palpatine’s role in the film was even warranted. Finn’s a deserter of the First Order who’s become a sign of heroism and bravery for the Resistance, but that isn’t explored as an important character trait anymore — hell, he’s no longer a multi-dimensional character anymore, barely anyone is in this movie. Naomi Ackie is introduced as a new character named Jannah. Her character seems fantastic, yet they do absolutely nothing with her character other than make her stand next to Finn for the film’s entire second half, so unfortunately we’ll never know anything about her or if she was really as great of a character as she could’ve been.
The runtime is stuffed with so many ideas that either don’t make sense or are rushed past in the blink of an eye; it felt so rushed that it was almost like Disney mandated them to not make it a minute longer. The editing in The Force Awakens was so excellent it even received an Oscar nomination, but here the cuts are so fast and occasionally feel unnatural. In the other films, the action scenes feel nuanced but the ones here are so quick that it’s going to be hard to look at them as “scenes” for their filmmaking and purpose. In a movie with so much fighting, I ironically can’t remember a specific moment where the action is notably impressive, although it’s thankfully loud and colorful enough to be engaging, yet not resonant. In the predecessor The Last Jedi, I was shaking in suspense for a lot of the film, but unfortunately in The Rise of Skywalker, there isn’t really a moment where I had that same feeling. Maybe it’s because although there’s so much plot, the script never gives us a moment to breathe or just develop the characters emotionally. Without any emotional arcs being set up, we can’t be concerned about what’ll happen to them later in the film. There’s also a few iffy lines of dialogue that either felt like placeholders or sub-par ways to convey ideas that could’ve come off as stronger. The movie also has plenty of moments that allude to the previous films, such as A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and these moments will work well because how much of an impact this saga has had throughout the audience’s lifetimes. Some moments will make you applaud and smile, and my theater experience with this film only reminds me how beautiful these Star Wars films bring people together, even after 42 years. However, by the end The Rise of Skywalker doesn’t feel like the natural continuation of the trilogy’s story, but rather like it’s trying to be the antithesis of The Last Jedi. Many of the powerful decisions Rian Johnson made in VIII feel undermined by what J.J. Abrams chooses to do in some scenes, and instead of going with the flow of the story, it feels like he disregarded the tone and value of the previous film, and even his own film The Force Awakens (I’m not even sure what the tone of this movie is, if I’m being honest). Abrams is a filmmaker I regard with lots of talent towards bringing a sense of wonder and imagination towards the screen, and it’s unfortunate because there so many moments of greatness throughout that are harmed by the light-speed runtime (which although, at 142 minutes, is longer than most other SW films, still feels incredibly rushed and overcrowded), and the director’s working against the story that he and Johnson established so well before. Although the actual ending of the film and the Skywalker Saga is nicely done, the final chapter of the journey there should’ve hit home as well. Regrettably though, it’s the least risky and exhilarating film of the bunch (although it’s arguably better than the prequels, which to me don’t capture the true meaning of Star Wars that well).
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the conclusion to one of the most beloved stories in the history of not only film, but also the art of fiction itself. Unfortunately, as an enormous fan myself, I found myself disappointed. the overabundance of ideas Abrams tries to fit into a crammed runtime (if you ask me, they should’ve taken a page out of Marvel’s book and made the movie 3 hours in order to give this saga the fitting send-off it deserved), and the choice to emphasize too much fan service over a sufficient amount of character/emotional payoff end up harming the story that was so beautifully constructed in the past outings of this trilogy. This feels like a great film that was cut in half and then made some frustrating last-minute decisions that don’t even impact the later events of the film, and the main characters’ arcs would’ve been much stronger without these decisions. While there were definitely some plot points I enjoyed and the vibrant visuals and world-building, as well as the film’s role in concluding the franchise, will excite most audiences and incite instances of applause, the lack of boldness and spirit makes this the least gripping and rewarding film in the sequel trilogy, despite the satisfying nostalgia that makes for an awesome theater experience when you’re watching it with other Star Wars-loving audience members.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the latest installment in the most popular film franchise of all time, and I can’t tell you anything else about this one, because if you’re a huge fan like me and most of the world’s population, you don’t need a plot description to get you to go see it. This movie picks up right after The Force Awakens left off, and as soon as the movie begins, the return to the galaxy which the world has grown to love over the last 40 years feels intriguing from the first scene. Like its predecessor, The Last Jedi is completely unpredictable and this one is even more different than the last film.
The cast once again knocks it out of the park, from the original characters portrayed by Mark Hamill and the late Carrie Fisher, the returning characters from the previous sequel including Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac, and new additions to the universe played by Laura Dern, Benicio del Toro, and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran. Hamill is as terrific as he’s ever been as Luke Skywalker, the most beloved hero in the history of cinema. His performance and his character’s arc over the last forty years has been tremendous, and the addition to his arc here is an unexpected turn which Hamill portrays so well, as he expresses the loss of heroism and his giving up of hope after a mistake he made prior to the events of the trilogy. Fisher’s scenes are great as well, and her final film performance that was shot before her tragic death last year is poignant and the film does her justice, paying tribute to her like it should. If you loved Daisy Ridley as our new protagonist Rey, you won’t be disappointed in the path she takes in this movie, as her journey through the ways of the Force continues under Luke’s guidance. Ridley does a terrific job conveying the emotional conflict her character experiences and how she finds her place in the battle of good against evil. Driver is back as the menacing and superb antagonist of Kylo Ren, who is a complicated villain but perfectly developed, and experiences changes after he did something in the last movie that shocked us all. We root for the good guys and against him but we feel that he isn’t all-evil like his master Snoke, speaking of whom is very intimidating and well-acted by Andy Serkis. John Boyega as defected stormtrooper Finn is another one of my favorite members of the cast, and although the storyline he has with new character Rose isn’t as compelling as the rest of the film, Finn is still a character we enjoy going on an adventure with thanks to his great writing and acting from the awesome Boyega who had his breakout when he first played the character two years ago. Isaac as Poe Dameron has more to do this time around, and his clashes with authority and his morals are interesting to explore. Of course, expect appearances from your favorite creatures like the lovable wookie Chewbacca, droids such as C3P0, R2-D2, and BB-8, the adorable new birds from Luke’s planet known as the Porgs, and a shocking appearance from one of everyone’s favorite Star Wars characters.
As a middle installment that has the expectations as many set as high as Empire Strikes Back, The Last Jedi definitely reaches those standards for what has been set with The Force Awakens, which introduced us to this magnificent new setting within the universe we already love, and here we dive deeper into those characters and experience some dark twists and turns on the way. Many fan theories have been developed ever since everyone saw the first film in this new trilogy two years ago, but no theory was able to predict the events that happen in this movie. I loved J.J. Abrams’ direction of Episode VII, and although he will return for the last installment in the trilogy, this one is directed by Rian Johnson, who previously directed the high school mystery Brick and the sci-fi thriller Looper. Johnson does a very impressive job building on what’s already happened and bringing to life the new planets and settings. The cinematography is beautiful and so are the visual effects, capturing the memorable action scenes and sets magnificently, just like a Star Wars movie should. Reception from fans has been mixed, but I can’t see why. I was on the very edge of my seat for the entire movie, and stunned at what this had to offer. It’s risk-taking, unpredictable, and deprived of the familiar 3-act story structure, making it even more suspenseful, and it’s got plenty of originality for the eighth film in a franchise. It holds onto what people have loved about the series since 1977, but it still has room for lots of creativity and trust me, I was quite shocked by what happened in this film. It’s not the cheerful blockbuster that most big studio sequels are nowadays, but it’s a dark, thrilling epic that will have everyone, Star Wars fan or not, cheering throughout.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the movie everyone will be going crazy about, and whether or not you like these films, you really should see the definitive blockbuster of the year. As an enormous fan of the series, I was not let down by the amazement I got here. Star Wars has brought people together all around the world since the first film was released 40 years ago, and this movie brings back what fans have loved since then but also lots of surprises. Although a few minor moments/plot points were weaker than others, the cast, visuals, story, writing, and emotion redeem the film, and at best this is an epic and marvelous sequel that is strong with the force.
After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. This conclusion to the reboot trilogy that began with Rise and became even more comeplling in 2014’s Dawn, so I was extremely looking forward to see what would happen next in War. Matt Reeves returns from the previous installment after receiving lots of praise and doing a terrific job, and here he carries enough of the emotion and brilliant visuals and action sequences that kept me so engaged in Dawn over to this one. Andy Serkis is one of the most dedicated and talented motion capture artists working today, if not the best in our time. He’s delivered some of the most impressive motion-capture performances in recent years, including Gollum in the Middle-Earth movies, King Kong in Peter Jackson’s 2005 film, and Supreme Leader Snoke in the new Star Wars movies. His performance in this trilgoy as Ceasar is at the top, with the depth and presence Serkis is able to deliver only through a motion capture suit is unbelieavble. The visual effects, like its predecessors, are some of the best in recent years, with the CGI used in the three films to turn actors wearing suits into apes being some of the best motion capture and visual effects work recently. In both the previous movies, there are main human characters being developed, with lots of the last films being told from the perspectives of the humans, most notably the leads James Franco or Jason Clarke. However, the humans are a much smaller emotional focus this time and the apes are the sole core of the film. Despite the humans playing a big role in the plot, only one human character is developed, and that is a ruthless army colonel played by Woody Harrelson. Harrelson’s menacing and terrific performance poses an excellent threat against Caesar, and we understand the Colonel’s motivation and fear, as well Caesar’s hate against him. Harrelson was a perfect casting choice and really impressed me in one of the best villanous performances this year.
If, like me, you were impressed by how much the previous installment surpassed your expectations with its incredible directing, storytelling, characters, and themes, then War will have more than enough to amuse you. Matt Reeves once again delivers great themes about what we do when we act out of fear, and the relationship between mankind and nature. The editing is never too quick, and the action is stirkingly shot. Most of the scenes that provide intensity were very good at achieving their goal to the audience in the way that they did. The way Caesar’s emotional conflict is explored is smart and carries the film very well, as well as the development of every other ape character in the film. The trailers hardly reveal anything about the overall plot of the film, other than the obvious fact that the humans and apes are at war.It was interesting to learn what would drive the characters throughout the movie and where the conflict was going. Some exposition is slightly confusing at first but eventually effective once you get it, and a few supporting characters that I wans’t too sold on, including a human character named Preacher who could have used a tad more development and an ape named Bad Ape who didn’t do much for me. However, War was what it needed to be and will definitely satisfy those looking for a strong conclusion to this epic trilogy. Many are calling this the best in the trilogy, but I personally feel that it is the weakest of the three. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have a great time with it and or wans’t impressed or satisfied by the end, but I just believe that Rise and Dawn were stronger installments. At the end of the first two, it feels like a lot has changed from the beginning, and this one has less of that feeling of change by the time the climax has ended. Also, this definitely did not feel like the 2-hour and 20-minute movie, but the pacing is good for whatt he runtime felt like. War for the Planet of the Apes is as good as I hoped for it to be, with terrific visual work and directing, as well as thrilling action sequences and dialogue. Andy Serkis and Woody Harrelson did not let me down, and although Dawn is still my favorite of the trilogy, I was by the end amused by what I had watched and this is a very admirable and recommended sequel.
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