I am hoping beyond hope that WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES knocks it out of the park in a big way, and if these early reactions from the first screenings of the Matt Reeves film are any indication, my wish may very well be granted. Of course, we've been down the road of overly positive early reactions before, so we probably shouldn't jump aboard the "everything is awesome" bandwagon just yet. Still, if WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES is actually able to improve even further on what came before, we should be in for quite the treat.
I just had the pleasure of seeing #WarForThePlanet of the Apes. Jesus, you guys. Start hydrating now, you're going to need it. Wow.
— Grae Drake (@graedrake) June 16, 2017
I'm dumbstruck by what they continue to accomplish. #WarForThePlanet
— Grae Drake (@graedrake) June 16, 2017
If you thought you had no more feels left after @WolverineMovie, you are mistaken.#WarForThePlanet
— Grae Drake (@graedrake) June 16, 2017
The most amazing thing about War/Apes is how enamored Reeves is with faces. So much of the film is in close-up. You fall into the eyes.
— Kristopher Tapley (@kristapley) June 16, 2017
You'd expect a movie like this to stay wide. Particularly shooting w/ Alexa 65. But that density of image is why Reeves loved the close-ups.
— Kristopher Tapley (@kristapley) June 16, 2017
I'm still buzzing about it. This is not a typical tent pole film by any stretch. The emotional tension throughout is like a high wire.
— Kristopher Tapley (@kristapley) June 16, 2017
A few other notes: Giacchino's score is one of his best. Harrelson/Zahn are national treasures. GIVE SERKIS AN HONORARY OSCAR PLEASE.
— Kristopher Tapley (@kristapley) June 16, 2017
#WarOfThePlanetOfTheApes is the bleakest summer blockbuster I can recall. Suicide, torture, whipping, crying monkeys. It's unrelenting.
— Nigel M. Smith (@nigelmfs) June 16, 2017
#WarOfThePlanetOfTheApes: the special effects are so seamless it's downright eerie. Makes case for future without proper actors.
— Nigel M. Smith (@nigelmfs) June 16, 2017
The BEST movie of the summer is HERE! #WarForThePlanetOfTheApes is a LANDMARK TRIUMPH! Gripping, intense, powerful, moving, MAGNIFICENT! pic.twitter.com/bn3UnZTlGl
— Scott Mantz (@MovieMantz) June 16, 2017
It's OFFICIAL! #WarForThePlanetOfTheApes is AMAZING! Deep, dark, EPIC! RISE + DAWN + WAR = one of the BEST MOVIE TRILOGIES EVER! #HailCaesar pic.twitter.com/MEvaWumGUS
— Scott Mantz (@MovieMantz) June 16, 2017
If "DAWN" is the GODFATHER PART II of the #PlanetOfTheApes series, then "WAR" is the APOCALYPSE NOW of the Apes series! BRILLIANT! pic.twitter.com/xE3gyeeu5k
— Scott Mantz (@MovieMantz) June 16, 2017
"War" is a world-class filmmaking top to bottom. Equal to "Rise" and — it has to be said — better than "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes."
— Hollywood Elsewhere (@wellshwood) June 16, 2017
Either you get it or you don't — "War" is about character & emotion, almost a silent film, an apes movie directed by Sergei Eisenstein.
— Hollywood Elsewhere (@wellshwood) June 16, 2017
With "War," Reeves is delivering on an emotional & mise-en-scene level that is way, WAY above Marvel/D.C. bullshit. Masterful filmmaking.
— Hollywood Elsewhere (@wellshwood) June 16, 2017
Matt Reeves' "War for the Planet of the Apes" returns to the tense scheme of imprisonment and impending escape that made "Rise" so wowser.
— Hollywood Elsewhere (@wellshwood) June 16, 2017
Second half is "Escape From Alcatraz" + "The Great Escape" w/ Andy Serkis' Caesar playing a fusion of Steve McQueen & Richard Attenborough.
— Hollywood Elsewhere (@wellshwood) June 16, 2017
Apes 🦍 together Strong 💪 #WarForThePlanetOfTheApes is just phenomenal, I could watch 🦍 on 🐴 in the mountains & snow ❄️ forever! Wow!!!
— Harry Knowles (@headgeek666) June 16, 2017
#WarForThePlanetOfTheApes is magical. Apes on horseback in blowing snow, nuanced acting by Apes & Humans! @mattreevesLA rules!
— Harry Knowles (@headgeek666) June 16, 2017
We're still about a month out from the official release of WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, but I've got my fingers crossed, and just about everything else, that Matt Reeves and company have been able to pull it off. We really don't need another threequel that drops the ball. Please be amazing.
If nothing else, we should expect the film to look appropriately grand. WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES director Matt Reeves recently told Empire that he wanted the film to "be like a Biblical epic." Reeves added that co-writer Mark Bomback and himself looked at classic war movies like THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, PATTON and APOCALYPSE NOW, but they were "also thinking in terms of things such as The Ten Commandments. I wanted it to feel very intimate in the foreground, but with grand vistas always dwarfing [the characters]. In a sense it’s about these two species pitted against each other and nature being greater than both of them. I wanted a David Lean ape movie."
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES will hit theaters on July 14, 2017.
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