Watched on Blu-Ray

It is hardly surprising that 20th Century Fox turned its back on the story of the 1968 original after Tim Burton's unsuccessful "Planet of the Apes" remake and turned to the very extensive series of sequels spun narratively around it. It is even less surprising that the reboot, which began in 2011 with "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and continued in 2014 with "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes", was modeled on the only two films in the series in which rattling machine guns played a major role for the first time. The only surprising thing about these circumstances is the fact that both quasi-remakes lovingly preserved the central motifs of their many predecessor films and told a rousing story instead of indulging in the grand spectacle as expected.

As the first film in the reboot series, "War for the Planet of the Apes" continues this story independently and ultimately brings it to a close, which is entirely in the spirit of its film series, which has never shied away from the bitter consequences of its stories. The now completed prequel trilogy is not merely a supplementary addition that has to build bridges - even if Survival in particular does not hold back with anticipatory references to the original - but an emotional character drama in three acts that is now so satisfyingly told that even the pain of parting remains far away at the end. All three films as a complete work can easily join the Olympus of modern blockbuster cinema, especially now that the trilogy even defies the curse of the disappointing third part.

Because unlike its predecessor, which suffered a bit from the paleness of its human characters, this movie finally understands that the apes are not only the most interesting characters in these movies (always have been), but also their heart. "War for the Planet of the Apes" is the best of the new "Planet of the Apes" movies, perhaps the best "Planet of the Apes" movie ever, because human protagonists have been almost completely banished from it and the stage belongs to the apes all by themselves for the big send-off. For a movie that markets itself as a US summer blockbuster (and a war movie at that), such a move is quite daring, downright unconventional - but of course it pays off. After its (admittedly brilliant) opening, the first half of the film in particular is filled with a great, sad silence and consists almost exclusively of scenes in which a handful of ape characters ride through a barren wasteland and communicate via sign language.

This works so well because the movie's plot only moves forward with its characters and shows a genuine interest in these characters. Just like Revolution, Survival is a quiet, melancholy film that doesn't necessarily understand its titular war in terms of action. Shootouts and explosions are an integral part of this story, but they are never the main attraction, only occasional outbursts resulting from the plot, which director Matt Reeves stages in a highly cinematic way, but without the fun of killing. It doesn't get much darker than this in a PG blockbuster - and the repeated play with sharpness/blurring not only brings out the 3D models effectively, the film develops an almost immersive quality that presses you into your seat and constricts your throat.

It seems almost superfluous to mention that the motion-capture technology has matured quite a bit since 2014 and Andy Serkis' dedicated performance as Caesar is still thrilling the third time around. Opposite him is Woody Harrelson in the villain role, the film's rather obvious weak point. Much like Gary Oldman in its predecessor, Harrelson works with what he's given (which isn't very much), but neither his performance nor the character of the maniacal Colonel McCullough is particularly memorable. He is allowed to explain his motivation sufficiently himself in a monologue and towards the end he finally appears again in a scene visibly inspired by "Apocalypse Now", but it works quite well because - like many moments in the film - it is highly visual and doesn't need a single line of dialog to articulate its emotions.

Emotions play a major role in the final telling of this story, because not only have some of the ape characters, above all Caesar, grown very close to your heart over the course of the trilogy, the third part now achieves a dramatic quality that far exceeds that of its predecessors. The strict rejection of a good-and-evil mentality, which has become the thematic guideline of the film series and is given its perfect interpretation here, demands highly dramatic decisions from the characters that call their moral integrity into question on more than one occasion. Thus the film allows Caesar, in this part grimmer and more determined than ever before, to briefly step into Koba's shoes - and handles this very delicate transformation brilliantly, namely with tremendous reflection. The concept of post-humanism, which has become commonplace in US blockbuster cinema, finally finds its bitterly ironic expression when it becomes clear between which armies the titular war is actually being fought.