DVD: Divine Viewing Diversions
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
Here’s to yet another explosion of escapism about ape-ism.
And it’s the best one yet.
If you’re looking to write a rule book for How To Manage a Franchise Trilogy, look no further than the latest “Planet of the Apes” installment, “War for the Planet of the Apes.”
Because this threequel is not only a superb conclusion to the trio of “Apes” films, but stands on its own as a mesmerizing, exemplary motion picture that manages to be fascinating, exhilarating and moving.
In short, it does everything right.
“War for the Planet of the Apes” follows 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” as part of a trilogy that started off just fine and still got better as it went along.
That is, “Rise” was solid, “Dawn” was terrific, but “War” is magnificent.
True, there was a lot for “War” to live up to, but it more than makes its case as the top dog in a rebooted franchise.
Beautifully shot, smartly edited, inspiringly scored, and with a heart-wrenching finale that satisfies, “War” wins the battle and the war in its determination of which species will be dominant on Earth.
Matt Reeves (“The Pallbearer,” “Cloverfield,” “Let Me In”), who also directed “Dawn,” works from a great script – set 10 years after “Dawn” – that he co-wrote with Mark Bomback.
It picks up at a point at which the genetically evolved apes have suffered devastating losses in their war against humans and rebel leader Caesar, played once again by Andy Serkis, who, wrestling with his darker instincts, embarks on an uphill quest of vengeance in the name of his fallen companions.
Leading the humans in this war against apes is The Colonel, played by Woody Harrelson, and what transpires as the narrative unfolds is packed with Holocaust imagery.
Rooting interest is handled in a thoughtful, sophisticated way, with no shortcuts or easy answers resorted to in terms of heroes and villains.
But what continues to amaze throughout as the film encourages and even assures the suspension of disbelief is the astonishing level of realistic detail and emotional nuance at which the ape characters are operating.
We now pretty much take the motion-capture process for granted, but in this case the technicians have pushed the boundaries so far that the level of realism is uncanny: We have to keep reminding ourselves that those are human actors up there, so absolutely do they seem like performing animals.
First among equals is Serkis, who gives an amazingly expressive and empathetic performance as we all hail Caesar. Let the arguments continue about whether a motion-capture performance like this is Oscar nomination-worthy.
Mention should also be made of Steve Zahn, whose Bad Ape is a winning supporting character and a form of smooth, effective comic relief throughout a decidedly dark drama.
Riveting, extraordinary and expertly crafted, “War for the Planet of the Apes” is a scintillating simian sci-fi epic about gorilla warfare.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
The sixth “Spider-Man” movie with the third actor in the title role starts has spun its winning web.
But this time there’s no origin story to slow things down.
This movie moves.
Tom Holland (who played the role in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War”) takes over as Spidey, the wall-climbing alter ego of Peter Parker, following three adventures with Tobey Maguire and two with Andrew Garfield that emerged from the Marvel comic-book universe.
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” brings us back in the company of this talented, young, aspiring scientist and acrobatic web-slinger in a reboot that takes the chance of seeming, well, unnecessary.
But this latest outing is in a more comedic vein as it explores the issues Peter Parker faces as a struggling teenager who just happens to be a high-flying superhero.
Oh, he’s still a bullied dweeb whose parents suddenly disappeared and who was bitten by a genetically modified, radioactive spider, after which he evolved into a crime-fighting vigilante.
But he also struggles to balance his life as a superhero, patrolling Queens, N.Y., in his high-tech suit, with that of a 15-year-old, socially awkward high schooler: After all, that subtitle refers to the Homecoming Dance.
He lives at home with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) and does battle with villains such as Vulture, a strong, begrudgingly sympathetic bad guy and formidable foe played by the scene-stealing ex-“Birdman,” Michael Keaton, under the watchful eye of his mentor, Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr.
Director Jon Watts (“Cop Car,” “Clown”), working from a charming coming-of-age script by a committee of half-a-dozen screenwriters, takes a sunnier, funnier approach to the material, with the conventional difficulties of adolescence as his focus but with a bit less angst than usual.
And Holland’s readings of both central characters, the struggling sophomore and the webbed superhero, is on the money.
Meanwhile, the other members of the supporting ensemble, including Laura Harrier as Peter’s crush and Jacob Batalon as his buddy, as well as Jon Favreau, Gwyneth Paltrow, Donald Glover, Tony Revelori, Tyne Daly, Bokeem Woodbine and Hannibal Buress, get their chances to shine and demonstrate at least the hint of a character arc via spirited, witty banter.
And the film is generous with its twists and surprises and bonuses, even if they land with varying degrees of success.
Nearly as much a teen flick as a superhero thriller, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” is a decidedly lighthearted take on a familiar character and perhaps the pick – or close to it – of the “Spider-Man” litter.
DUNKIRK
On the surface, “Dunkirk” doesn’t seem like a Christopher Nolan movie.
So much for surfaces.
Because what this World War II film shares with most of the other works of the world-class, visionary director of such films as “The Dark Knight,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Batman Begins,” “Inception,” “Interstellar,” “The Prestige,” “Memento” and “Insomnia “is a level of craftsmanship, intelligence and quality that can take your breath away.
Technically, he does it again with this war drama. But in terms of the film’s emotional impact on us, he falls somewhat short of his level of accomplishment in his most triumphant works.
Still, we’ll take this experimental, experiential, immersive experience from one of our most gifted directors.
“Dunkirk” is a survival story – with fictional characters – about a pivotal military action, Operation Dynamo, that took place before the United States entered the war.
It’s a historical action thriller about an astonishing rescue over the course of eight days.
This true story – familiar to the British but not to the rest of us – was the subject of a 1958 film, involving the miraculous evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and other Allied troops from Great Britain, France, Belgium, Holland and Canada during a fierce battle from the small French seaport of Dunkirk and across the English Channel that took place in 1940.
An amazing 300,000-plus soldiers who had been pinned down, cut off and trapped by the German army were saved.
Writer-director Nolan tells his lean, intense history lesson from three perspectives: land, sea and air. And he mixes three different time frames together in a way that chances being confusing.
But he tells his story overwhelmingly visually, with a minimum of dialogue – establishing and delineating character through action, not conversation – and generates a good deal of nail-biting suspense.
And while he pays a price in terms of emotional involvement by addressing the ensemble effort and the epic sweep rather than the personal aspects of characters portrayed by his principal players – Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Harry Styles and newcomer Fionn Whitehead – he certainly keeps the tension humming.
As the story unfolds, it seems inevitable that either surrender or annihilation will be the outcome. But that’s not the case in a film that can be seen as a feature-length version of what Steven Spielberg attempted and accomplished in the first half-hour of “Saving Private Ryan”: capturing and conveying the visceral experience of warfare up close and terrifyingly personal as soldiers face death.
“Dunkirk” is nothing less than a master class in visual storytelling from Christopher Nolan, who hereby performs a rescue mission on the most remarkable rescue of World War II.
