The problems of existential nature, the political allegiance and the miracles of computer animation - To the creators of the revamped series "Planet of the Apes," all the laurels belong to the mere fact that they even sold their mass audience idea - without the irony, with a stone face, in a motion picture convention with a philosophical lining. The latest and (the last) episode of the cycle is a satisfying closing of the trilogy on the conflict of the species and the revolution devouring its own children.
In the elegant prologue, the remnants of the titles of the previous films are reminiscent of the telegraph "Genesis" and "Evolution" of the intelligent monkeys. Decayed by the deadly virus, the homo sapiens have made a fragile alliance with the humanoids, but one spark is enough to make the conflict fire again. On the one hand, we have Cesar (Andy Serkis) - the leader and the Christ of the monkey nation, who is trying to designate his compatriots a new paradise. On the other - the xenophobic maxims of the American army deserter (Woody Harrelson), for which the good monkey is a dead monkey. Their battlefield for the intergalactic government of the souls will be a labor camp - surrounded by mountain peaks, located in freezing distances, evoking obvious associations with Siberian labor camps.
There is no need for a fever of thought to perceive in the black nature the reflection of two other personalities: loving the presidency of America, who wished to alienate his own people by constructing a wall separating him from the world, and Colonel Walter Kurz from "Apocalypse Now," the illusioned man who survived one nightmare. Wars too much. Like the protagonist of the anti-war manifesto Coppola, Cesar must take a literal and metaphorical journey to the core of darkness and confront the dread of human nature. However, contrary to Captain Willard's odyssey, this journey is largely a forge of character - as far as the previous parts talk about maturing as a leader, this is the story of discovering the qualities and virtues of power. The haunting hero of the bloody revolutionary Koby is the devil whispering to him. But there are also friends to the grave board who will stand on the light side throughout this psychomachine. They will give their leader a helping hand, and when needed - a loaded rifle.
The political thread is led by a light hand, while the classics for the cinema remain neat and do not obscure the signature. Matt Reeves - both as a co-writer and director - is more interested in the fate of the monkeys. The film is completely empty of the "human" perspective, which unfortunately I have to count in minus - similar optician represents only a girl, a tool-like figure in which, like in a mirror, must look through the anger and vindictiveness of Cesar. And yet it still works at the level of the story of the collision of two leadership strategies. Harrelson's role is a show of acting restraint, and the motives of his hero are even without the "good" biography on his knee. Serkis once again proves that in digital form there can be more life than in a dozen graduates from Lee Strasbergs school together.
The movie is full of close-ups, the amount of details and the quality of the animation are broken by the scalp, yet no computer created scene does not seem to be a testimony of the creator's self-development. Every cadre with a dazed, crying, or furious character is working for a narrative and a dramaturgical effect.
Although the new "Planet of the Apes" series is nominally prequel and reboot at the time, I would venture to say that screen reality is not a recycling effect at all. This world was built from scratch - first it was turned into something that you can believe in, then later into something you can touch. The future is a mystery, a frightening present, and the past is still alive. Ghosts haunt the heroes, ritually repeated gestures of respect allow altruism, and on the horizon still lingers the conflict of ever more depopulated and, paradoxically, ever tighter planet. And let us not forget the fact that we are still talking about monkeys. Speaking with American accent. On horses. With Kalashnikovs.