• It’s the best of the trilogy. Has strong set design and mise-en-scene… early on there are highlights with a waterfall in the background for aided effect and another sequence of gorgeous long barren white trees
  • It borrows a lot from the searchers with the two individuals set against each other from different worlds- harrelson’s character and serkis’s Caesar
  • The “bad ape” voiced by steve zahn is Hank Warden’s “mose harper” character from the searcher to a T. Same humor, voice, and even bald like “mose”
  • Michael Giacchino’s musical score is wonderful- both bombastic and riffs taxi driver at times. I’d hate to see this movie without it—he also did a wonderful job on UP- I see elements of John Barry’s great epic scores like out of africa and Dances with wolves
  • The first meeting between harrelson and caesar is a superbly shot scene- slow-motion sequence with tightly edited close-ups– there are pulsating drums in the score and we have fire in the background for Caesar and water (from the waterfall) in the background for Harrelson
  • It’s largely a silent film—reeves is a good filmmaker- I have let me in in the archives as well—it’s a bold choice to take yourself so seriously given this film is about a bunch of monkeys but this is the dark knight (though not as good of course) and played with great suspense
  • Recommend but won’t be in my top 10 of 2017

viewing 2.0  April 2018

  • Love some of the shots of the Northwest like Redwoods and the waterfall shots
  • it’s Cowboys and Indians- Harrelson even brings up how he and Caesar are like “Custer and Sitting Bull”
  • Not that I care but I’m sure the pacing was difficult for genre action fans
  • there are some plotting issues- I don’t understand why Harrelson tries to assassinate Caesar early in the film and then when he has him he refuses to do it.
  • end on a landscape that looks similar to Monument Valley if you want to take The Searchers on it again- and then they hit the water and that sort of Eden-like place
  • Recommend but barely- lot of superior films in 2017