"War for the Planet of the Apes" recently premiered in New York last July 10. I personally have a soft spot for primates and for most of the movie, I did not care that I had my arms outstretched because I felt like I wanted to hug them. Putting that aside and looking into the third movie from director Matt Reeves, it did a good job for me, overall.
My take on the third 'Planet of the Apes' movie
Looking into the characters, the Colonel (Woody Harrelson) was sinisterly effective, although I kind of felt bad for him towards the end; Bad Ape brought most of the comic relief, as scenes became stressful to anticipate; the mute girl, Nova was adorable and helpful; and of course Maurice was his usual reasonable and sensible self.
I felt for Caesar when he went "ape sh*t" upon learning that his son Blue Eyes, and his wife Cornelia were killed by Colonel McCullough. The Atlantic's review of the movie wasn't as good, mentioning it was "dragging," but for me, it got the message across. How power can corrupt minds, not only of humans but of our animal counterparts as well - but then again there's this thing called "animal instinct", but that's another story.
Koba (Toby Kebbell) kept haunting Caesar, as he battled with himself, being torn between wanting to avenge his wife and his son and focusing on leading the troop to safety. This personal struggle within Caesar was a main theme for the movie.
Andy Serkis on how Caesar has evolved
Serkis, who plays the role of Caesar told Screen Rant in an interview that Caesar would have definitely changed his way of thinking in this movie. Although, he would still stick to being empathic and understanding since he was raised by humans. This is in contrast with Koba, who was an ape kept in the laboratory.
It can be recalled that in "Dawn of the planet of the Apes," Koba starts a war with Caesar because he was filled with hatred and wanted to lead the apes to go against humans. Serkis added that for him, he thinks Caesar is really more of an egalitarian and just wants a peaceful solution to settle the conflict between humans and apes.
What else to expect from the movie
Brought up by kind-hearted humans in "Rise" and forced to protect his ape brothers in "Dawn," Caesar never really wanted for a war to happen - much of "Dawn" was spent with efforts trying to avoid it. In "War," Caesar strives to hold on to his stand on social equality during an unavoidable war.
Being the last of the trilogy, the cinema echoed with "aww", "whyy", and "nooo" during the last scene. Now, Caesar is truly home and I believe he would have made Will Rodman (James Franco) so proud. "War for the Planet of the Apes" opens on July 14.
