Dystopia in biblical proportions - ****

Pierre Boulle wrote the book La Planete de Singes in 1963 and was translated into english as Planet of the Apes.  The book was adapted into film in 1968 and spawned four more sequels due to its success. This then translated into different forms from 2 tv series , to books and other media like comics.  War of the Planet of the Apes is already the third installment of the second reboot, taking it up from Tim Burton's 2001 release.  The first two being Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014).

The story happens 5 years after Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and the simian virus has mutated into something that also affects humans.  We find the apes led by Caesar (Andy Serkins) still at war with the humans, but now there is also another enemy called Alpha-Omega, a group of military fanatics led by Colonel (Woody Harrelson) bent on preserving the human's role as the dominant race and controlling the spread of the virus within humans by killing infected humans.

The movie boasts of a gripping and poignant narrative with conflicted and multi-layered characters masterfully told thru flawless special effects and backed by music and sound that help sustain the scene and push the story forward.  There is almost nothing in the film that I didn't like.  First of all , modern technology has gone so far that the animals portrayed here seem so real and that their emotions are succinct with how humans naturally react.  There is this suspension of disbelief that these apes are true and intelligent and capable of communicating and human emotions.  Caesar here has developed into a powerful leader and has developed into someone like Moses of the Bible who is tasked to lead his people to the "promised land'.  There are apes here who do not talk and so for the scenes where there are no lines, you hear musical scores that help support the conversation among animals.  I love the characters that this movie has created from Caesar who is at war with himself,  will he help lead his people or will he take care of a personal vendetta that he has with Colonel.  The Colonel, is the antagonist in this story has his own conflicts and you see that the real war is not out on the field but it is really within the characters.

Just a few scenes which I thought were predictable, but I understand that this is also a commercial movie that needed to fulfill some viewer expectations but I am willing to ignore that.  Overall I love this film a lot I am very glad I watched it.   And this movie came at a right time when I was really looking forward for a nice film after all the not so nice films that came along for the last couple of months.