Today, our most underrated modern franchise, the rebooted Planet of the Apes series, dropped an absolutely epic trailer for the third — and potentially final — installment in the saga of Caesar and his ape brood, War for the Planet of the Apes.
It’s full of explosions, brilliant CG, and some wonderfully whack-a-doodle Woody Harrelson. Check it out:
Wow, we’re pretty excited for this one!
It helps that this is the one of the truly character-oriented series that we have out there today, and though the titles have been pretty shitty (quick: tell us which of the previous two was named Dawn of the Planet of the Apes?), the movies themselves have been absolutely incredible. Of course, it helps that director Matt Reeves and company have centered themselves on a dynamic Andy Serkis performance, and filled out the cast with names interesting enough to compliment him.
Judy Greer, who does similarly excellent V.O. and mo-cap work in these movies but never gets enough credit for it, returns, and series newbie Harrelson probably grew some hemp on the damn set. It’s weird how flat some of the human villains in this franchise have been — anybody remember Tom Felton in the first one? — but Harrelson’s looking to go big for this, and we can’t wait to see him chew some scenery. Anyways, this is Reeves’ last Apes film, as he’s leaving to apply lipstick to a pig, and by that, we mean direct the Ben Affleck-starring Batman movie, and we can only hope that it’s as good a farewell as this trailer implies.
Here’s a synopsis:
Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless colonel (Woody Harrelson). After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both of their species and the future of the planet.
War for the Planet of the Apes goes bananas on a screen near you on July 14.
