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WithKingdom of the Planet of the Apeshitting theaters soon, I figured now would be as good a time as any to revisit the recentPlanet of the Apesreboot trilogy and journey through Caesar’s story all over again before exploringKingdom‘s take on the future of the world he created. The modernPlanet of the Apesfilm are something of a pleasantly surprising enigma in popular culture.
In an age where many reboots either adhere so closely to the source material as to feel like a redundant carbon copy or stray so far as to be completely unrecognizable, theApestrilogy manages to find that balance of maintaining the spirit of the original films while carving out an identity and a story all its own. But just how did they accomplish such a feat? Let’s find out.
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Rise of the Planet of the Apes(2011)
After his attempts to create an Alzheimer’s curing gene therapy go horribly wrong, scientist Will Rodman, played by James Franco, is left to care for a baby chimpanzee named Caesar; the son of their primary test subject, Bright Eyes. As it turns out, the drug used in the gene therapy was passed down genetically from Bright Eyes to Caesar, rapidly developing his intelligence to a far greater degree than a human at the same age.
When Caesar’s protectiveness towards his newfound family turns violent, he is thrown into a primate reserve where the cruelty of humans transforms his intellectual curiosity into a revolutionary mentality, encouraging his fellow apes including another test subject named Koba, to revolt against their human captors. Eventually, Caesar leads his kind to freedom in the forest after an epic battle on the Golden Gate Bridge; while the same drug that lead to the apes’ intelligence appears to cause a fatal sickness in humans that’s about to spread across the globe.
By far, the smartest decisionRise of the Planet of the Apesmakes is not simply redoing the original 1968 film. Rather than go through an inevitably lesser retelling like the Tim Burton remake did,Riseopts instead to explore not only the origins of the ape society, but to do so from the apes’ perspective. Franco’s Will may be our lead human, but the true star and point-of-view character is Andy Serkis as Caesar himself.
Through body language, grunts, ASL, and only a minuscule amount of actual spoken dialogue, Caesar communicates a full range of emotions, relationships with others, and an immensely satisfying character arc that never ceases to be compelling. Combine that with some truly excellent action scenes and the stunning VFX work by Weta Digital used to bring Caesar and the other apes to life, and you have yourself a remarkably solid sci-fi prequel.
And with critics like The Orlando Sentinel’s Roger Moore praising the “audacious, violent, and disquieting” new entry in the long-runningApesfranchise and a strong box office return of $481.8 million worldwide on a $93 million budget, a follow-up was inevitable.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes(2014)
10 years after the so-called Simian Flu pandemic devastated the human population, only about 1 in 500 people remain alive thanks to genetic immunity. A surviving colony of humans, led by Jason Clarke’s Malcolm, attempt to restore power to their base using a hydroelectric dam, but end up coming into conflict with Caesar and the apes who have made their home in San Francisco; accidentally injuring the son of one of Caesar’s lieutenants, Rocket.
Caesar doesn’t want war with the humans, simply wishing to live in peace with his found family of apes as well as his wife and son, but Koba, the tortured lab subject ofRiseand Caesar’s second-in-command, believes humans cannot be trusted and must be wiped out before it’s too late. As tensions rise, attempts at peaceful resolution fail, and secret armories are discovered by both sides, Koba uses Caesar’s supposed death to seize command of the apes and start killing and imprisoning humans.
Caesar eventually returns with the help of Malcolm and his family, duking it out with Koba in an epic final battle, but it’s already too late. Malcolm’s allies have already called a nearby army base set to take out the apes. The war has already begun.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apesis everything that a great sequel should be. It expands on everything that made the original work, namely the evolving ape society, excises what didn’t work, namely the tacked-on callbacks to the original and the now largely superfluous previous human cast, and adds entirely new elements all its own like the more directly apocalyptic survival storyline and more involved action sequences.
Matt Reeves, who would later go on to helm 2022’sThe Batmantakes over directing duties for the rest of the trilogy starting here and you can clearly see his skills on display. The dilapidated city, the incredible gun fights and ape horseback sequences, and especially the final Caesar vs. Koba fight are all captured with beautiful cinematography as well as the once-again stunning VFX work.
But most importantly, the emotional journey ofDawn of the Planet of the Apeshits incredibly hard. The last remaining humans struggling to stay afloat against all odds, Dreyfus’ descent into madness as he desperately clings to a chance for survival, Caesar simply wanting to have a family and being forced into conflict, being betrayed by someone he thought of as a brother like Koba, it’s genuinely incredible stuff.
And with a $710.6 million box office return, nearly doubling the first film’s worldwide take, there was no doubt that the war teased at the end and by the ominous howling in the credits would play out in a third film to wrap up the trilogy.
War for the Planet of the Apes(2017)
Two years after the events ofDawn, Caesar remains in hiding as a ruthless human militia aided by enslaved apes search for his colony. Caesar’s son Blue Eyes and his lieutenant Rocket soon find an oasis that could serve as a permanent safe home for the ape colony, but on their way back to report their findings, they are attacked by the militia’s colonel, played by Woody Harrelson, who murders Blue Eyes.
Caesar fends off the militia alongside his lieutenants as the rest of the tribe heads for the oasis, befriending a mute human girl named Nova and discovering firsthand the horror inflicted on both humans and apes by the war in general and by the militia specifically; before being captured by the Colonel.
The Colonel reveals to Caesar that the reason Nova is mute is because the Simian Flu virus has mutated, reverting humans to a more primitive state. In fact, his own son and several other soldiers were infected with the virus before the Colonel had them killed. As Caesar and the other apes make their escape, he goes to kill the Colonel, only to discover that he has already succumbed to the virus, with the Colonel taking his own life not long after Caesar leaves.
Though many apes are injured in the ensuing chaos, they eventually make it to the oasis. And Caesar, now knowing that his kind has found home, succumbs to his injuries and peacefully passes away.
War for the Planet of the Apesis a difficult film to watch, but that’s part of what makes it so great. Blending the more intimate personal narrative ofRisewith the military conflict ofDawn,Waropts not for a straight-forward action film but for a deep, dark, and frankly harrowing reflection on the impact and consequences of war itself.
Our characters reach their lowest point, innocents die, and no sympathy for the human characters is left. Every villain here is truly detestable and there’s no reasoning with them. But through that darkness comes hope. Despite all the hardship, the film ends on a triumphant and cathartic note as the apes finally find home, the only thing Caesar ever truly wanted. But the ending is still bittersweet as that home comes at the cost of Caesar’s own life.
In Conclusion
The modernPlanet of the Apestrilogy remains one of the best examples of how to do a reboot right. It takes the core premise and the natural intellectual curiosity of most sci-fi from the original and does something completely new with it, building an entire society and a remarkable character journey for Caesar more or less from the ground up.
Each film brings something new to the table and has its own distinct identity while still telling a continuous and emotionally resonant story across the entire trilogy. It’s a series I can watch again and again and never get tired of. And I can’t wait to see how it continues inKingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
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Callie Hanna
Articles Published :136
Callie Hanna is an up-and-coming writer, aspiring actor, and full-time nerd. She grew up in a small town in Delaware and was instilled with a love for superheroes, science fiction, and all things geeky from an early age. When she’s not catching up with her comically large backlog of movies, games, shows, and comics, Callie can be found working, writing, chatting with friends, or browsing the dying husk of Twitter.
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Andy SerkisBest movies directed by Matt ReevesDawn of the Planet of the ApesKingdom of the Planet of the ApesMatt ReevesPlanet of the ApesRise of the Planet of the ApesWar for the Planet of the Apes
