Film Review – War for the Planet of the Apes

It’s a rare event when a movie franchise actually improves as it develops. Granted, the “Planet of the Apes” saga has carried on in one form or another for the last 50 years, but its recent incarnation, the Caesar Trilogy, has offered a radical reinvention of the source material, using hindsight and cutting-edge technology to craft a strikingly realistic version of a fantasy premise. And it just keeps getting better and better. Following 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is “War for the Planet of the Apes,” which doesn’t promise series finality, but if it all ended here, the production goes out with its finest achievement. An unsettlingly emotional viewing experience, “War for the Planet of the Apes” manages to achieve what so many blockbusters fail to do: it makes the unreal live and breathe. Director Matt Reeves completely moves beyond demands for extravaganza to create a strikingly intimate second sequel that fully delivers on the empathy “Rise” introduced and “Dawn” developed, making viewers feel just about everything for these damn dirty apes.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com