Cesar is back and this time it’s war
Planet of the Apes (2011 – present) is a reboot that just manages to keep getting everything right. People tend to ignore the Tim Burton 2001 remake movie (I rather enjoy it and cannot see the problem but anyway). But this new series of movies? A kind of prequel to the originals and a self contained series charting the move from human dominance of the globe to an Ape run society: it’s genius.
Emotional, dark, pertinent, tense, action packed, innovative, visually stunning and above all both cleverly plotted in its arc and somehow organically ‘human’. This is a universe that feels ‘real’. Trades on the original imagery, without feeling like an unoriginal ‘cash in’.
The latest teaser is precisely that: a tease. Revealing nothing and yet somehow conveying everything. The Apes are forced to a course of war with the humans and Cesar will prove a reluctant yet effective leader. This will be the one where we start to see the old and new worlds collide more and move towards the traditional Planet of the Apes mythology, whilst transitioning nicely from the existing series with humans still clinging to delusions of supremacy.
It’s sad and poignant that a character like Cesar is being compelled to fulfill a warrior’s destiny he had no choice over. But therein lies the appeal of this film series: the apes are probably more human and sympathetic than the human counterparts.
War for the Planet of the Apes is released next year and we will review it then.
