That convoluted title might be a mouthful, but this sequel of a remake defies expectations by not being terrible. It seems that someone may have finally figured out that apes-vs.-human battles is what people go to a Planet of the Apes-film to watch.
What Works: Andy Serkis is incredible as lead ape Caesar, inarguably the real lead of the film. [No offense to the slightly-simian looking Jason Clarke, a “Brotherhood” alum who’s finally breaking big after that underrated show.] I’ve always been a Serkis fan, but most of his motion-capture characters (even Gollum) felt like interesting diversions in larger stories. In this, he gives a true leading-man performance, his Caesar is weary, honorable, captivating, and the real soul of the film. You care more about the danger he’s in than you do the human characters…not an easy feat for a film where mankind is barely hanging on.
When the real villain emerges, you’ll be shocked at how much you care who wins out. And an all-apes movie may now be even more interesting than shoe-horning in human characters that aren’t nearly as well developed.
What Doesn’t: Did I mention that the human characters aren’t nearly as well developed? The apes come off as haunted, dangerous, and are given real backstories you can relate to…but whenever the humans are on-screen, you can’t help but get impatient to get back to those apes.
What I Would Have Done Differently: By now, it’s time for the humans to get out of the way and give us an all-ape power struggle movie. Think about it: if the humans had been left out (and the film were about thirty minutes shorter), would we really be missing that much?
I agree that it is time for the humans to sit it out in a zoo or something.