we went along the alexanderplatz (big spot in berlin) and they had a giant ape face modeled and hanging from a huge building there for advertisement. a cineplex is around the corner etc.
the little troublemaker LOVES monkeys and when she saw it she went ape-shit and almost by herself got out of the buggy. those seat belts could barely keep her back. I guess she wanted to climb the building and touch the big nose or something.
ANYHOW, had me think of the whole series of the APE movies. I recall catching the old ones on the tube when I was small....like 10 years old or so maybe? so I got no recollection at all really, other than that there's some ape/human love thing going on, some revolution of course, oh apes, oh noes humans etc....well I know the premise and such. but I never really paid attention to it and never felt like missing out on something. hmm...
now as cool as mark wahlberg is, I don't like him in movies other than comedies these days. sorry. and he was in one of the new editions to the ape-saga wasn't he? and...james franco? I caught bits and pieces of these remakes or whatever on the tube some time ago, but was again rather meh towards it.
NOW, question: is it worth catching up on all of it? like, really?! ape-athon: yes or no?! I might do that if you convince me. do it cartis! I mean curter! yes?
"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."
So good. Top 5 trilogy of all-time?? There's very few that were as consistent as this one was
I think I'd go Dawn > War > Rise but I like them all for different reasons
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Bad Ape instantly became one of my fav characters of the series, he was so great
I guess they thought the better of bringing Koba back after teasing that he's still alive after Dawn? Glad they didn't, the nods to him with the dream sequences were enough
The last few Giacchino scores haven't been that great, but he killed it on this one
Probably even moreso than the other movies, the dialogue-free sequences were so captivating/emotional. You could always tell exactly what was going through the characters' heads. The scene where Maurice meets Nova and where Nova gives the food/water to Caesar standing out the most
The Colonel might've been the most disappointing part of the movie for me, even though he was still definitely a solid character. It just felt like they could've done so much more with him. His first few scenes were amazing but I feel like they kinda squandered him after that, especially his demise. I guess it defied expectations because a big showdown was expected but it just felt pretty anti-climactic for a character that was built up so much. That said, Jason Clarke's character in Dawn is still the best human character but I think I'd put the Colonel second above Franco. Woody did well with what he had
The comment made about other ape populations is intriguing, not really something I had thought about. I doubt they'd do it but it'd be kinda interesting to explore another part of the world with a much different situation than Caesar's apes had. Like a jungle in Africa which already has a huge ape population and would probably instantly have the upper hand
Even though it wouldn't have made sense timeline-wise I was expecting to see a rocket come streaking across the screen when it panned up to the sky at the end (: It sounds like they'll likely be making another trilogy though so I'm guessing the end of that one would meet back up with the original's timeline?
Top 5 trilogy of all time, I agree. Super consistent throughout
I loved this one. I'd say 3>2>1. The first was really good and obviously necessary but these last two feels like what Reeves was really hoping to get to. I'd have to rewatch the second one but this one will probably stick with me longer than that one did
I just watched a scene from the first one and sorta can't believe Rocket was the ape that Caesar fought at the shelter. Him and Caesar were totally different characters in this one, what great development. I loved the four apes traveling together on their mission, it gave me old school WW2 rescue mission movie vibes. Just read an article and I'm not at all surprised to see that those types of movies were their influence
BOY was I sad when Luca died. It's like a dog dying in a movie but worse. I was way too nervous the entire time that Maurice was gonna die. What a beaut
Serkis crushed it. He's amazing. They gotta redefine what kinds of roles can be nominated for an Oscar because of him. He's so consistently great
Woody was really good but I agree, a bit anticlimactic. Still good tho. I also didn't want that soldier with the crossbow to end up being a dick but rip. Bad Ape was also great, didn't know that was Steve Zahn
Also after rewatching the first...those visuals were great at the time but this one blows it out of the water. The fact that this one will someday look outdated blows me away because I sensed very little CGI throughout. Maybe it's because I forgot my glasses (: . Weta is king
Perfect ending to this series. Can't think of many trilogies where I think they got better with each movie but this is one of them, super rare
actually the first was directed by Rupert Wyatt, which is probably part of why it has a different feel to it. Reeves definitely elevated it after he picked it up, he said in a recent interview that he'd like to come back for a new one too
Dawn is super good on rewatch, I saw it again a couple months ago. It's really close between that and War, but I really loved the conflict in Dawn with Malcolm/Caesar wanting to coexist but all the ingrained tension between the groups preventing it, which the last scene perfectly sums up. That's what's so great about these movies though, each has a very different conflict yet all of them are really engaging in their own ways
