The sequel to the recent "re-imagining" of the Planet of the Apes franchise 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', this movie is set around 8-10 years after the first film. The virus released at the end of the last film has spread and killed many, and wars as society broke down have wiped out many more. The apes who emancipated themselves in the last film have retreated and set up their own community in the hills of San Francisco, a safe and prosperous place where they can avoid human contact. A small band of humans, resistant to the virus, have survived and built a fortress to keep anyone else out, but they have no electricity. They need to get a hydro electricity plant running again.
So sets up a strong film that follows on from the almost as strong first film. Where the first one explored the moral issue of testing experimental drugs and how we treat animals, this one is more concerned with themes of family and how there can be bad apples in every bunch even when you think you know who is the 'baddie' and who is the 'goodie'. People and apes can certainly be both.
Our two central characters are Caesar (Andy Serkis mo-cap performance again being a standout) who now has a mate, a son and another baby chimpanzee on the way; and Malcolm (Aussie Jason Clarke in what might be a breakout role for him) has formed a new family unit with his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) a vet Elli (Keri Russell from Felicity). Malcolm leads a small band of humans including his son and girlfriend into ape territory, hoping to ask Caesar for permission to work on the hydro-electricity plant and co-exist peacefully with the apes. Being very similar in outlook, Caesar agrees to Malcolm's request and even sets his community to helping get the job done so the humans can leave them in peace. But distrust on both sides causes a series of events which set in motion a war between human and ape.
I think the timing of the release of this movie could not have been more (accidentally) perfect than it was to make the film resonate more than it would have otherwise. While I was watching the film I felt very much 'in the moment' and concentrating on watching the events unfold, but immediately on walking out of the film I realised it was very coincidental how much it reflects real world events. Because in this movie I feel we have a representation of the current Israel-Palestine conflict - two very different groups, both of whom in the main probably just want to be left alone to live their own way and ignore the others, both with right on their side (or so they think), but because of a series of mis-communications and/or misunderstandings between one or a few people, they come to disagree and eventually to fight and each side feels the need to seek revenge/justice for their community. It's amazing how much in both the movie and its real world counterpart, you just want to reach out and say "Stop - can't we just talk this over and find a solution before any more lives are destroyed". That might be too much information, I hope not, but I'm sure anyone going to see this has a general understanding of the storyline arc of this series.
On a technical note, the CGI and motion capture employed provide some amazing visuals, especially in 3D. I felt so immersed in the film, with the producers wisely deciding not to use it to throw things at your face but instead just make you think that these apes are real, and really are riding horses, holding guns and other things that occur. Every bit is believable. The location is excellent too and the direction is very good from Matt Reeves (leveraging his experience with fast-paced action from directing Cloverfield but blending in the quiet character beats from the remake Let me In). There is no real standout performance in the human cast but all are at a high level so it doesn't matter.
I felt very strongly about this movie, I really really liked it and found it pretty thought provoking.
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