Watched the U.S.A.'s 2017 War for the Planet of the Apes (2:19:44), by far the most serious episode in the _Planet of the Apes_ series, It showcases the finest performance of Andy Serkis, who, despite the prosthetics, projects an entire range of sensitive facial expressions and emotions. In this movie Serkis departs from his previous caricatures of unusual characters--he underplays the role, yet his screen presence becomes the strongest of all.
The scenes are as slick as the winter episodes in David Lean's 1965 Dr. Zhivago and as classic as John Sturges's 1963 The Great Escape. Indeed, it is the story of war between men as much as it is between men and apes. The dialogue is sparse; much of the story is told non-verbally, all this leading to a spectacular ending. There is also the marked absence of the usual camp found in the older _Planet of the Apes_ movies, including their Flintstones architecture and laboratory settings.
On the downside, this is a film about subversion and the dark side of human nature minus love and sex, making it non-commercial and also making it highly unlikely that the geniuses behind the production will be called upon for more than one or two sequels. And Bad Ape was perplexingly too much like Dobby the House Elf from the Harry Potter series.
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