Review: Planet of the Apes - The Showdown

One of the main criticisms of current Hollywood is the lack of creativity of producers and executives who, out of laziness or fear, mostly make films that are remakes or sequels. for us, cinephiles, to hope that what is offered to us is, at least, of good quality.

That's what happened in 2011, when Planet of the apes the origin, a kind of prequel for the classic Monkey's Planet, from 1968, hit theaters, and that's what happens again with Planet of the Apes: The Showdown (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, USA, 2014), sequel whose release takes place today, July 24th.

Fast forward ten years after the climax of The origin, Planet of the Apes: The Showdown It begins when a large part of the population of planet Earth is decimated due to the virus that emerged in the laboratory, during experiments carried out with apes, aiming at curing Alzheimer's and, consequently, developing the intelligence of primates. After years of battles, the apes and the small portion of surviving humans maintain a fragile truce and, in the city of San Francisco, a small group of people, led by Dreyfus (Gary Oldman, in Batman the Dark Knight Rises), survives in a kind of shed, isolated from everyone and trying to contact possible survivors. In the forest, another group goes on with their lives: they are the monkeys that, led by Caesar (Andy Serkis, in Lord of the Rings), live as an organized community, wanting only to keep their distance from men, who caused so much harm at the time of laboratory experiments. Everything goes well and harmoniously, until a group of humans invades the territory of the apes, in search of resources to maintain life. Malcolm (Jason Clarke, in The big Gatsby), leader of the expedition, is responsible for talking to Caesar, to convince the leader of the apes to allow human presence in his territory, aiming to reactivate a hydroelectric plant, since electricity, vital for the survival of humans, is reaching the The end. The impasse between humans and primates, which is very reminiscent of contemporary geopolitical relations, is what maintains the tension of the narrative of Planet of the Apes: The Showdown.

However, at no point does this make the film a tedious experience. The fragile truce between the two groups and the imminent insubordination that must be faced, both on the part of Caesar and on the part of Malcolm, a result of the fear and dissatisfaction of some members of their respective groups, captures the viewer's attention and everything is permeated. for exciting action scenes. But the great triumph of production lies in technology. The result presented by the acting by motion capture is spectacular and surprises how much the actors who work with the technique are able to transmit varied emotions through their virtual characters. Talking about Andy Serkis' competence in this area is a commonplace. His performance as Caesar, compared to the previous film, is even more visceral and full of complexity. Aided by an equally talented supporting cast, Serkis conveys, with astonishing efficiency, the drama of his character, torn between loyalty to his peers and compassion for humans, compassion stemming from Caesar's memories of Will Rodman (James Franco, in 127 Hours), a scientist from whom he learned the notions of love and family. With a film that competently continues the 2011 plot and leaves the way open for sequels, the new Planet of the Apes series establishes itself as a solid and promising franchise, proving that technology, coupled with a well told, is capable of resulting not only in money, but in great movies.

Planet of the Apes: The Showdown debut today, day July 24th.

Review credits go to our friend Vanderson Santos, from our partner Blah world.