War for the Planet of the Apes

Far from a treasonous reboot of the beloved five-film franchise of the 1960s and 70s, the 21st century Planet of the Apes cycle has merits of its own. Approximately retooling 1973's Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), this third and final chapter sees Caesar (a motion-captured Andy Serkis) and his intelligent simian tribe attempting to relocate to a promised land to escape the paramilitary troops of Woody Harrelson's genocidal, Kurtz-like Colonel. (Cross-species antipathy is summed up by a grunt's Vietnam-styled helmet scrawled with the words "Monkey killer".) Director Matt Reeves and his co-writer Mark Bomback introduce allusions to fascism and slavery, with mutant humans in chains and subjugated apes referred to as "donkeys", before a spectacularly pyrotechnic battle between two armies brings the saga to a close. Operatic in scale and laced with connections for old-school fans, the film leaves nothing out there on the pitch, and even hints that there may be more to follow.