First Impressions | Incredibles 2

                While I haven’t discussed the film at all, I am a fan of Pixar’s The Incredibles.  It is not only one of my favorite films of 2004, but one of my favorite Disney films in general.  The animation, voice acting and story are all top tier, and its good-natured satire of superhero culture still holds up today.  While it didn’t need a sequel, I was excited when director Brad Bird announced once was in production.  If Cars can get two unnecessary sequels and a spinoff, then a superior film with a fanbase is entitled to one.

                                Picking up where the original left off, the Parr family attempt to thwart the Underminer’s plan.  Things don’t go smoothly, the villain escapes—never to be seen again—and the family is arrested.  While they are not charged with any crimes related to their illegal activity, it does result in the Superhero Relocation Program being shut down and the Parr’s being placed in a precarious financial situation.  This situation immediately is rectified by Winston Deavor, an eccentric superhero fanboy who runs a telecommunications company.  Winston longs to see supers made legal once more and has the perfect plan to bring about his vision:  shift public perception of super activity; show the moments, not simply the ending.  For this, he enlists the help of Elastigirl.  While she patrols the streets, Bob cares for the kids, leading to many comedic moments.  All is not as it seems, a villain appears, and once again it’s up to the entire family to save the day. 

                Although I enjoyed the trailer, I tried to control my hype level.  While Disney’s animated films haven’t disappointed me lately, there is a first time for everything.  Thankfully Incredibles 2 wasn’t that first time. 

                Like all Pixar films, the animation is beautiful.  One can see the budget was well spent.  While I was paying more attention to the story, I didn’t notice any frames or backgrounds that were half-rendered or sloppy.  Brad Bird and his team outdid themselves in this department. Michael Giacchino once again composed the score.  His effort was good and it was nice that he reused motifs from the previous film.  That said, it didn’t stand out to me as much, but this is an aspect multiple viewings could change.  The voice acting is still top tier, although at times you can tell it has been fourteen-years (mainly with Nelson).  It was also nice to hear a callback to the super suit scene.

While the original had comedy—monologuing, no capes, etc.—the sequel pushed this element to eleven.  This might turn some viewers off—especially considering Marvel and Star Wars going overboard in that department—but none of the jokes felt forced.  The humor arises from the characters and their interactions with one another.  Bob’s character arc is the best example of this.  With Helen now on patrol, he’s the primary caregiver.  This inverses the spousal roles from the first film, placing Bob in an unfamiliar position.  He knows his children, but he’s never nurtured them in the manner he must now.  From boy troubles to math homework, it’s all learning on the job for Bob, which lends itself to comedy.  Humor is subjective, so aspects of this arc might not be everyone’s cup of tea; I admit I’m not an enthusiastic fan of the diner scene, although it does serve the story.

                Speaking of boy troubles, Tony Rydinger is upgraded from minor character connected to a Dash’s teasing to supporting character connected to Dash’s teasing.  The first film ended with Tony asking Violet out, completing her blooming arc.  While Brad could have continued this plot development in a straightforward fashion—which would have allowed for typical adolescent comedy—Mr. Bird swerved left.  Tony ends up having his memories of Violet erased after accidentally seeing his date without her mask.  This leads to awkward adolescent moments that even Stevie Wonder could see coming a mile away, but luckily, they complement Bob’s arc.  One of Dash’s line’s sums things up.  “Is she having adolescence?”

                One aspect of the plot that caught me off guard at first was the legality of supers.  One would think after Syndrome’s attack they would be free and clear again since the government didn’t come after the Parr’s or FRO zone.  Maybe they got a one-time free pass for extenuating circumstances.  If so, that goes against the opening scene, but considering The Underminer escaped after causing millions in property damage it’s easy to connect the bureaucratical dots.  Every tragedy needs a scapegoat if the true culprit escapes justice.

                It is hard to discuss the film’s villain Screen-slaver without giving away major spoilers, but I believe I can do so.  As the name implies, Screen-slaver controls people’s minds through screens (TV, computer, etc.), controlling their actions like puppets.  As the plot progresses, Slaver’s manifesto is spelled out with each subsequent attack, but then the twist happens.  For those who are getting tired of the surprise villain angle this realization will make you groan, especially since Slaver is following in Syndrome’s wake.   That said, I thought it was alright.  I saw the twist coming twenty minutes before the film confirmed it, but its build was decent.  Slaver’s true manifesto is where things get interesting.  Without saying anything that would spoil who he or she is, Slaver hates supers and strives to make sure they remain illegal forever.  What better way to turn people against their heroes by making them the villains.  As an aside, this is why Hogan’s heel turn worked perfectly.  While Syndrome’s motivation satirized superhero culture and the trophy for everyone mentality, Slaver’s appears relatively straightforward.  Note, I said appears.  Now, it could just be me, but a handful of Slaver’s lines before and during the twist came off as a satire on modern comic book films, mainly the MCU and DCEU.  If intentionally placed, I applaud Brad Bird for going there.  If not, it’s just my personal reading of the character.

                While not as fresh or groundbreaking as its predecessor, Incredibles 2 is a worthy follow-up and not a simple retread.  While there are several potential bumps, the monorail doesn’t crash.

4.5/5 Stars

First Impressions | Deadpool 2

I have a confession to make:  I had never heard of Deadpool until I saw X-men Origins Wolverine in theaters.  As such, I was outside the outrage bubble when the plot twist first played out.  Since then I’ve done proper research and  completely understand the backlash.  That said, like many of my fellow film and comic fans, I was giddy when Fox gave the greenlight for a Deadpool film.  Not only would it give the character’s fans what they’ve been clamoring for, but it would redeem Origin’s misfire.  While I haven’t revisited the first film as of this writing, I remember enjoying it in the theater.  The action was decent and the humor had me rolling at times, but part of the end didn’t fully click with me.  I’ll go more into this when I revisit part one. 

            Third act criticism aside, I enthusiastically awaited the sequel.  My enthusiasm was rewarded.  Deadpool 2 is not only an excellent comic book film sequel, it is one of those rare sequels that surpasses its predecessor in every way. 

Picking up where the first film left off, Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) continues to work as a freelance mercenary while enjoying his relationship with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin).  Things take a dark turn when their home is invaded and Vanessa ends up dead.  Deadpool kills the assassin, but the action does nothing to abate his morose mindset.  He joins the X-men to see if fellow heroes can help, but ends up in a mutant detention center after killing am abusive orphanage worker.  This is where Cable, a mutant from the future, enters the story.  His family was killed by Russell Collins—Deadpool’s cellmate and the orphan he was attempting to aid—so Cable travels through time to kill Collins and prevent his family’s fate.  While a mercenary, Deadpool is not cool with the slaughter of children and puts himself between the two.  It is now up to Deadpool—with the aid of his team, X-force—to save Collins from Cable’s wrath while attempting to prevent the child’s dark future from flaming.

Every aspect of the film was on-point.  The humor is what one would expect from a Deadpool film, but the timing and nuance is improved from the first film; I can see more of the jokes aging well.  From what I’ve gathered Deadpool 2 had double the budget of the originally, allowing the crew to step up the action and special effects.  Both deliver and compliment the film’s story; one draws the audience in and the other wows them with spectacle.  There were a few moments where the CGI was shaky, but not distractingly so. 

            The cast was wonderful.  Reynolds—the heart of this series—amazed once again as the Merc with the Mouth.  It’s evident from his body language and vocal inflections he enjoys playing Wade, and his enthusiasm helps the audience investment in the film.  His dramatic timing is better this go-around, which helps that aspect of the plot.  Josh Brolin was the perfect choice to play Cable.  While I’m mainly familiar with him from the Deadpool game, the film gives enough information for one to understand who he is and what drives him.  While the antagonist, the audience understands why Cable is attempting to murder a child, even if they don’t condone the action.  His character arc truly begins during act 3, where he must work with Deadpool to reach a compromise.  Without giving spoilers, he makes a character defining choice. There was a Thanos joke, but it’s blink and you’ll miss it and Cable no-sells the quip. 

Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, and Leslie Uggams reprise their supporting roles, each using his or her time well.  Outside the obvious, the only major subplot here is the revelation that Negasonic is gay, and it’s handled respectfully; who doesn’t love Yukio.  Zazie Beetz is great as lucky merc Domino, handling herself well in the action scenes and having a fun back-and-forth with Reynolds at times.  While the weakest of the supporting cast, Julian Dennison gives a decent performance, getting his character’s plight across and helping carry the plot forward.  It’s hard to say from one viewing if he’s better angry or sympathetic.  Bill Skarsgard plays the acid-spitting member of X-force, a cameo I didn’t notice at first.  He’s ok here, but I didn’t realize how lanky he was until now.  Brad Pitt also has a cameo, one I won’t spoil for those who haven’t seen the film.

            The film’s first post-credit sequence might turn some fans off.  Without giving much away with spoilers, it involves Deadpool using time travel.  While it doesn’t take much imagination to guess what Wade plans on doing, it will impact Deadpool 3, and from a certain point of view makes aspects of this film pointless.   While it does not bother me personally—especially since it falls in line with Wade’s character—I can see why others might not feel the same.

           Like or hate the first film, this is a Marvel film everyone should watch.  The humor and action are spot on, and enough drama and conflict is sprinkled within to keep one invested.  While I enjoyed Infinity War, this one I liked better, as it’s balanced perfectly. 4 out of 5 swords.  

First Impressions | Avengers Infinity War

While it has its highs and lows, I consider myself a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Like many of my fellow fans, my anticipation grew as Phase One’s end grew closer, watching each film in theaters.  This anticipation grew further when The Avengers premiered.  While not perfect, it was a satisfying end to Phase One, and its mid-credits scene perfectly set up future story arcs.  That scene gave us the first film appearance of the mad Titan, Thanos.  While I had no idea who he was at first, a quick google search was enlightening.  This peaked my interest, which continued to grow as Phase Two and Phase Three moved forward.  While his on-screen appearances were brief, Thanos (Josh Brolin) hung over the MCU like a rain cloud, waiting for the precise moment to burst.  That moment has come with Avengers Infinity Wars.  

As the title suggests, the film’s plot focuses on the Infinity Stones, McGuffin’s introduced during Phase One and elaborated on during Phase Two.  Thanos’ goal is to collect all six stones and place them in his Infinity Gauntlet, which would give him the power to balance the universe.  It is up to both the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy to thwart Thanos, but not everything goes as planned.  Battles are fought, stones are collected, and a smile grows.

            How did I enjoy the film overall?  While it might be too early to say for certain, I enjoyed it and Age of Ultron roughly equally, and it was a step up from Civil War.  Of those two, the latter makes a better comparison, as both films were directed by the Russo’s and are “Cross-overs.”  While enjoyable, Civil War felt off at times both dramatically and thematically.  I get what Marvel and the Russo’s intended, but their execution needed improvement; I still question the logic of putting General Ross on the presidential cabinet, to the point where it has become a personal joke.  With Infinity War, not only do I understand what the filmmakers intended, but I agree with the execution.  I personally would have made the film darker at points, I’ve long since made my peace with Disney and Darkness.

            Like Civil War, one worry I had was how Infinity War would handle its large cast of characters.  While the MCU has handled it well to varying degrees, even previous Avenger’s films hadn’t contained a main cast this large.  That said, the film balances its ensemble cast well; not one feels short-changed.  While some are more important to the plot than others and thus have more screen time, it didn’t bother me.  I expected this to be the case; my only question was who would be shortchanged.  Sadly, Hawkeye and Antman were nowhere to be seen.  While the latter’s sequel is probably taking place parallel to Infinity Wars, Hawkeye’s absence is odd.  He has a family, so one would assume he’d be in to take down an antagonist who threatens their existence.  Perhaps the Russo’s couldn’t figure out how to squeeze him in without seeming forced or wasteful.  Either way, hopefully he’ll be in the sequel, especially if the ending personally impacted him.  Loki was also presented well.  I feared Marvel would make his recent development pointless, but thankfully that worry was moot.  Without spoilers, Loki was handled respectfully.

            Like most of the post-Disney films, there is plenty of humor.  While this has turned off some to recent entries—as an aside Thor Ragnarok had several funny moments that could have been cut to help the drama—here it isn’t intrusive.  While Thanos does hang over the cast, the humor is derived from character interaction:  friendly bickering, planning and the occasional one-liner.  The cast’s great acting helps sell these moments; if anyone fell flat, a moment would fail.  The interactions provide plenty of drama, which is a foil to the humor and helps the main plot progress.  Of the new interactions if I had to choose a favorite it’d be Thor, Rocket and Groot.  While an odd pairing, the two had me smiling wide during their scenes, especially since Thor can understand Groot.

            How does the film treat Thanos?  While it can be said one of the MCU’s shortcomings is its villains, Thanos does not fall victim to that “curse.”  From the opening scene, the audience is made aware of just how threatening the mad Titan is.  While before he’d simply been talked up, when one can take out both Thor and the Hulk in single combat one’s high threat level is assured.  This threat level continues to rise as Thanos collects the Infinity Stones, this goal putting him into direct combat with our heroes.  While he only directly takes part in two battles, both effectively show off his strength and cunning.  While it will sadden some comic fans, Lady Death is nowhere to be seen, as is her part in Thanos’ motivation.  Despite this, the Titan’s reason to collect the Stones is logical:  he wishes to balance the universe by instantaneously cutting its population in half.  This is where the film becomes allegorical, as overpopulation is problem humanity will have to address over the next several centuries.  Thanos foresaw it would become a problem on Titan, but no one listened to him and the civilization eventually collapsed from lack of resources.  Thanos does not want this to happen on a universal scale, enter the Infinity Gauntlet.  While the plan is grandiose and mad, one can understand Thanos.  While he is killing millions of beings, the Titan believes he’s doing so for the greater good.  As Star Trek worded it, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

            In addition to his plan, the audience sees another side of Thanos, brought about thru his interactions with Gamora.  While he called her his “Favorite daughter” in Guardians of the Galaxy, until now the line had no context.  Here, we see Thanos interact with grown Gamora after he acquires the Reality Stone and child Gamora via a flashback.  The Titan might be harsh and his universal plan dark, but he lives his daughter like any father would; there’s even a “boyfriend meets father” moment, which is our first insight into this side of Thanos.  While touching, this love causes internal conflict for Thanos during his search for the Soul Stone, the only Infinity Stone with no recorded history.  To acquire the stone, Thanos must sacrifice someone he loves, and he only loves his favorite daughter.  Begrudgingly Thanos sacrifices Gamora for the stone, a soul for a soul.  The Titan gains power, but internally he hurts, the act having torn his heart asunder.  While the word doesn’t describe Thanos one-hundred percent, this is the closest the Titan comes to being a sympathetic figure, one worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy.  It also makes Starlord’s actions when he discovers this information understandable, even if undermines the grand plan.

            The action scenes are shot competently.  While there were some moments of shaky-cam, the Russo’s dialed it back when compared to their Captain America films, saving it battlefield tracking shots.  The special effects are amazing, as always with the MCU; with how much each entry costs to produce they have no excuse not to be. The only personal complaint I have is that two of Thanos’ new children could have been brought to life with make-up rather than motion capture; it’s simply my preference when possible.    

            The hardest element to address without major spoilers is the ending.  It should be no surprise that Thanos ends up winning, even if one has not read the source comic (raises hand).  To that end, many of the main cast end up vanishing into dust, the scene feeding off the audience’s emotional ties to the characters.  We feel a sense of loss as they crumble, spurred on by the reactions of those around them.  While I knew it was coming, two parts of the scene still moved me deeply:  the deaths of Groot and Peter.  The former I didn’t expect to die again so quickly.  The latter arises from how the scene was blocked, acted and edited; for those who have seen the film, you know what I mean.  The film ends with a cliffhanger, fading to black before the credits.  At least one member of the audience I was with was shocked by this, as he yelled “What the fuck” as the credits began rolling.  While I smirked, it shows not everyone had the same expectations for the denouement.  Speaking of which, I know not everyone will feel the ending—I know one of my contemporaries falls into this category—but I understand why.  Marvel Studios ruined part of the impact with a handful of its announced future films.  While knowledge of the comics could have caused this same feeling, it wouldn’t be to the same degree.  Future viewings could have also tempered the impact, but I’d prefer retroactive tempering to in the moment tempering; at least retroactively one can still feel in the moment, especially when marathoning a series.
           While it hadn’t crossed my mind originally, one theory I’ve seen floating online involves Iron Man’s survival.  As his life is traded for the Time Stone, Thanos spares him.  At first glance, this appears odd, but since Dr. Strange had looked at possible outcomes with the stone and found only one where they prevailed, it’s not a stretch to presume Tony had to survive the encounter for this to occur.  This raises a question of why fight on Titan at all?  Well, the good doctor never stated they won there, only that they won overall.  After handing the stone over, he even admitted they were now in the endgame.  Filmgoers will have to wait for the next Avengers film to discover if this element was a red herring; if not, I wonder how it’ll play out.  

            Overall, Infinity Wars is a great film.  While it throws dozens of characters at the audience, none feel lost in the shuffle.  While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is still my favorite entry of Phase 3, this is easily number two, as it balances its humor and drama well, even if one theme was slightly neutered (Thanks Kevin).

First Impressions | Digimon Tri Reunion

As a child of the nineties, I was partially swept up in the late decade's anime boom.  While I didn’t watch Dragonball Z until the Buu Saga, I was enamoured by Pokemon, Medabots, and Mon-Coli Knights.  Of the Saturday Morning Dubs, Digimon was my favourite.  Even if my family had weekend plans, I had to watch the show if a new episode aired.  Live or taped, I tuned.    While I fell off the fan wagon following Frontier—a show lag tends to do that—my interest was raised when Digimon Tri was announced.  While catering to nostalgia, Tri promised to continue the story of the original group of DigiDestined.  If episode one is any indication, Tri is delivering on that promise.

                Picking up several years later, the audience is reintroduced to the DigiDestined on an average day:  Tai plays soccer, Matt rocks out, and Joe worries about academics.  The tranquillity is soon interrupted by the appearance of Wild Digimon.  Unlike last time, the monsters are glitching in and out of existence.  The government is aware of the problem—partially in thanks to Genai—and enlist the group's aid by the end, but something seems off.  Could they know more?  Is Genai the one holding out?

                In addition to familiar faces, we get two new ones in the form of Meiko and her partner, Meicoomon.  While only seen sporadically in the first two acts, by the third their presence becomes important, as the film’s main antagonist is after them.  Without giving away spoilers, the gang saves them and the pair become friends.  I wonder if we’ll see a new Digivolution in the next film.

                One complaint I’ve read about Reunion is that it’s paced slow.  After watching the film, I concur, but it isn’t a problem for me.  While Tri is marketed as a film series, Reunion is written and paced like an opening arc, only the focus is on re-introducing familiar character’s and updating the stories premise.  While slow, it succeeds as an opening salvo.

                One thing that has me perplexed is Adventure 02’s canon status.  I’ve read mixed reports online before and since the film’s release, and one viewing hasn’t cleared anything up.  If two is still canon, why weren’t Davis, Ken and the other’s reference by name?  Omnimon’s appearance could throw another monkey wrench into the equation, but his appearance in Revenge of Diaboromon balances things out.  If anything it makes one wonder when Gabumon reachieved Mega.  The only plot indication that any of season two happened is Kari and T.K’s D3’s. Perhaps a later episode will clear this element up.  If not, this is bad form on Toei’s part.

                The animation is beautiful.  Anime films are allocated higher budgets than network shows, and this is evident on screen.  While stylistically similar to Adventure’s previous films—although my knowledge of this mainly stems from the American hybridization—the art is updated, allowing Tri’s art design to stand alone.  Tai’s protagonist hair is reigned in as a result.

                The voice work was excellent.  Most of the original cast returned for the dub, which helped further my enjoyment.  I was smiling off and on constantly as the film played.   Joshua Seth, Tai’s actor, even came out of retirement for the project, as he enjoyed the role.  That is fandom dedication.   Kari and TK’s new voices will take several viewings to get used to, but since the latter is dubbed by Johnny Yong Bosch it’s not all bad.

                All things considered, Reunion is a decent reintroduction to the Adventure timeline.  It looks and sounds great, and while slow, the story has me drawn in.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to watch two and three sometime soon.

First Impressions | War for the Planet of the Apes

I’ve loved the Planet of the Apes series since childhood.  First catching the films on AMC, I was drawn into the depicted world, where Ape has usurped Man for dominance.  Since then, Fox has rebooted the series twice.  Tim Burton’s attempt was flawed, but fun.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a decent starter, but it possessed several problems—how do you not know a female ape is pregnant!  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is where the series caught fire again, as it was the best entry in the series since Escape.  A third film had much to follow, especially if was going to be the concluding entry in a trilogy.  While not perfect, the film succeeded in its purpose, and I’m still debating whether I like it or Dawn better overall. 

                Following in its predecessor’s wake, War for the Planet of the Apes picks up several years later. Ceaser’s troop has managed to avoid the Human military, although there have been engagements—the film opens with one.  Ceaser wants his people to live in peace, which puts him at odds with the Colonel (Woody Harrelson).  Our antagonist, the Colonel’s goal is to wipe the Apes out to ensure humanities survival, but not for the expected reason.  His reason is the Simian Flu.  While mentioned only in passing in the previous film, here it becomes important, almost a McGuffin.  The Flu not only increases the intelligence of Apes—which we see with Ceaser’s group and a new character called Bad Ape, who can also speak—but it decreases intelligence in Humans, robbing the infected of speech and higher cognitive functions.  This alone would be enough motivation, but it’s personal for the Colonel, as his son was affected and he euthanized him.

                While I wasn’t a fan of the flu concept when Rise was originally released—it came off as unnecessary—it’s grown on me, mainly in the context of a trilogy.  It’s a better explanation for why Human’s revert to a primitive state than the one given in Boule’s novel, which can be summed up as “The Ape took my house…I feel…odd now…banana good.” 

                A handful of Apes side with the Humans to ensure their survival.  Labeled Donkeys—a reference so obvious I don’t even have to spell it out—they are looked down upon by their masters, but are treated far better than Ape prisoners.  While I don’t see it as such, it wouldn’t surprise me if others viewed this as a comment on “Race Traitors.”  The Apes series has commented openly on real world issues before, so it wouldn’t be new.  If it was intentional, the payoff was expected.

Although War is in the title, there isn’t many fighting scenes as one would expect; most of the shooting is contained in two battle scenes, one during the opening and one in the third act.  While disappointing—I know one of my contemporaries was—it didn’t bother me.  Perhaps my friends review tempered my expectations, softening the blow when I finally viewed the film.  The film is short on action, but there is conflict, a struggle for survival between the Apes and Humans. One side wishes to exist in peace while the other strives to maintain the Evolutionary Status Quo.  The virus McGuffin heightens and presses the issue.  Like Rise, this makes the title metaphorical, but the execution is improved.

Part of the third act reminds me of The Great Escape.  Like the pow’s, the Apes are trapped in a camp, and their escape method involves a tunnel.  While they succeed where the Human’s failed, upon reflection it did seem too easy.  While the ending battle allows for some leeway, before that how did they manage to keep it hush hush?  One would think sentries would be keener.

                Ceaser’s arc concludes with this film.  We witnessed his birth and uprising, followed by his attempt to bridge interspecies peace.  He continues that goal to an extent here, but with age Ceaser’s has grown a slightly nihilistic view.  While he isn’t entirely without hope, it is fading.  Even though he is dead, Koba haunts Ceaser; in several scenes, hallucinations taught the Ape leader, showing the audience how Ceaser has fallen since we last saw him.  In the end, the past cannot be fully forgotten.  He has encountered well-meaning Humans, but he cannot forgive Mankind’s collective actions, even if he will not hold it against everyone.  In a way, Koba won.

                While I prefer practical effect, the Motion Capture was excellent.  While good before, the computer rendering has been taken further, perfected in comparison to the previous films.  I was blown away by how realistic the rendering has become.  If this is the future of Motion Capture, I might not mind its further use, even if my preference for makeup and suits remains.  Andy Serkis, Steve Zahn, and the rest of the cast gave great performances, complimenting the post rendering.  There’s talk in the film community of Serkis receiving an Academy Award nomination for Acting.  Some might argue that his work is more effect than acting—especially considering it can be tweaked in post even more than a normal performance can—I wouldn’t have an issue if it happened.  Even with post rendering, it is still a performance, as Serkis works off the other actors on set.  If given, hopefully it allows for the creation of a new awards category, one that honors Motion Capture and Voice Work. 

                The human cast is decent to meh.  Woody Harrelson is the lone exception.  He has a presence, holding the audience’s attention whenever he’s on screen, even if he’s not speaking.  The Colonel’s backstory monologue is the zenith of Harrelson’s performance.  The audience believes in every word he speaks.  Even though we don’t condone his methods, we understand his twisted logic.  I haven’t seen much of Harrelson’s past work, but if this is any indication I must dig into his filmography.   

                Matt Reeves returned to the director’s chair, handling the job well and allowing for technical and visionary continuity.  He handled the technical elements with care, and got decent performances from the actors.  His direction is one of the reasons I find it difficult to pick between Dawn and War.  I’m familiar with the two films he directed prior to entering the Apes series—Let Me in and Cloverfield respectively—but I haven’t watched them.  I will correct that sometime in future. 

                While not for everyone, War for the Planet of the Apes is a well-made film.  The story is engaging, the villain is relatable yet cruel, Motion Capture is perfected, and it concludes Ceaser’s story on a somber note.