‘War For The Planet Of The Apes’ Review Round-Up: Here’s What The Critics Are Saying

The movie may still be a few weeks away, but the reviews for Matt Reeves‘ highly-anticipated War For The Planet Of The Apes are starting to roll in.

As with the previous two installments in the franchise, Rise and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the new film is getting some rave reviews.

Everything from the motion-capture performance of Andy Serkis, to the visionary direction of Reeves is being praised by many of Hollywood’s top critics.

At the time of writing this article, War has a score of 89% in Rotten Tomatoes, with only two critics giving the film negative reviews. However, neither of those reviews came from top critics.

There is an abundance of hype surrounding this film, and this is what the critics have to say.

PopCulture

Brandon Davis reviewed the film on behalf of PopCulture.com, and he believes that War For The Planet Of The Apes is the best film of the entire trilogy. 

It’s a rare but beautiful thing for a trilogy of films to start with a strong entry and increase in quality as each new addition rolls out. For 20th Century’s Fox’s rebooted Planet of the Apes saga starring Andy Serkis as ape leader Caesar, this rare occurrence is gloriously realized.

Read the full review here.

Variety

Many critics have been focusing on the performances and direction of War for the Planet of the Apes, Peter Debruge chose to focus on the technical aspect of the movie.

Debruge says that the motion capture technology is out of this world, and it sets the tone for the entire film.

Like the apes it depicts, the technology behind the ‘Planet of the Apes’ prequels has evolved to act more human than the human characters.

Read the full review here.

The Guardian

Peter Bradshaw says that War keeps the pace with its predecessors, and that the film isn’t to be missed. He also notes that this movie is much closer to old-school war movies than any of the modern films in the genre.

The third of the Planet of the Apes ‘reboot series’ is just as good as its predecessors: a bold, sweeping adventure told with confidence and intensity

Read the full review here.

The Hollywood Reporter

Like many of the other critics, Todd McCarthy believes that War for the Planet of the Apes is a rarity in Hollywood. He states that the quality of this film is like winning the Triple Crown, as it’s incredibly difficult to make an entire trilogy of great movies.

Almost as rare as winning the Triple Crown in horse racing is to make a film trilogy that clicks from beginning to end, but Fox has pretty much pulled it off with its refurbished Planet of the Apes trio.

After surprising everyone who felt that the half-century-old franchise had been buried for good by Tim Burton’s lamentable monkeyshines in 2001, the “Caesar” triptych — rooted in Andy Serkis’ indelible performance as a reluctant rebel leader, splendid special effects and a shrewd racial/political thematic thread — amply satisfies as a smart sub-set of the nine-and-counting Apesfeatures and two TV shows.

Read the full review here.

USA Today

It isn’t much of a surprise at this point, but Brian Truitt’s review was also overwhelmingly positive. 

He states that War creates the same effect as the original sci-fi films that began the franchise.

Those “damn dirty apes” of old are no more. The simian heroes of War for the Planet of the Apes are special-effects wonders who help create a dazzling and gripping third film in the revamp of the 1960s and ’70s sci-fi movies.

Read the full review here.