When I saw the trailer of The WAR for the Planet of the Apes, I was like YESSSS. I have been a fan of such action-packed movies, but this was just something different from monstrous animals eating up people. I love how the storyline portrayed the never-ending conflict between human and animals (apes), and it wasn’t all about the action.
On a side note, reading the movie title makes my tongue twisted, such a long title!
Rise. Dawn. War.
Here’s a really quick summary of RISE & DAWN (Spoilers alert)
RISE. Scientists were studying a new drug on chimpanzees that is potentially a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, and the chimps were shown to become smarter. However, one of the chimps went on havoc trying to protect its baby (unknown to the researchers who think that it’s the side effect of the drugs). They were told to shut down the research and to kill all the chimps, except for an infant chimp named Caesar who was adopted by Will. Years later, Caesar grew up among humans and has inherited its mother’s intelligence. Unfortunately, he was placed in an primate shelter due to his wild attacks out of defence for someone. At the shelter, Caesar was tormented, and he eventually found a way to escape and made use of the drugs to increase the intelligence of the rest of the apes. In the process, many humans and apes were killed, escalating the conflict between both parties. They escaped into a forest, with the ending credits showing that the drug has caused a widespread virus over the globe, thus endangering the human population.
DAWN. The virus has spread all over the globe, leaving with just a small group of humans who are genetically immune to the sickness. On the other hand, Caesar became the leader of its pack while Apes and humans stayed separated in their own territory for years. A group of people entered the forest in hope of searching for a solution for a long-term power source, and injured one of the chimpanzees out of panic and fear. Caesar let them off with the mindset that the apes do not want war with humans, and are only out to defend their home. Koba, on the other hand, disagreed with Caesar due to his hatred towards humans. Caesar and Malcolm then came to an agreement and allowed humans to enter the forest for their power source. However, Koba created more conflicts and misunderstanding between the two parties, causing the chimps to attack and subdue the humans. Malcolm eventually rescued Caesar and they made it in time to save the humans and expose Koba’s doings. At the end of the rescue, Caesar and Malcom acknowledged the mutual friendship but also understood that this war will never end.
And the war continued…
With years of accumulated hatred, humans were never trusting towards the chimpanzees. However, Caesar strongly held to his belief in finding peace with humans.
The story build-up was very intensive and I love how Caesar’s character was so complex, almost like an human-being (maybe even smarter). And how he was so benevolent and forgiving towards the humans despite their several attacks.
The show made me feel that humans are so evil and cruel at times, and how unforgiving they can be. I was really sad when some of the apes were killed (so unnecessarily) because of mistrust and hatred. Human and apes are unaccommodating towards each other due to their differences, but the story showed how evilness and greed can take over a human’s mind causing us to be as beast-like and no different from an ape. On the other hand, an animal’s thought process can be as complex as a human being’s.
The story was slightly draggy but necessary to build up the plot, and I was enjoying every moment of the show, secretly rooting for the chimps to win the war (even though I’m human).
I particularly enjoyed parts of the show where different tactics were used for their escape route, and I can’t help repeating at the back of my mind, “Wow, so smart..”
Planet of the Apes is not just any ordinary “humans vs animals war” movie, it is packed with action and emotions with some touching scenes that makes you want to tear especially if you’re an animal lover. You might think that this is a serious movie, but there were scenes that actually amused me as well!
Rating: 4.5/5
