Go ape. This film is thrilling and fantastic. No monkey business here - it's all soul and all serious. 

Let me start this review by telling you how I ended up at the cinema. At 10 in the evening at a birthday dinner, someone mentioned all the rave ratings War for the Planet of the Apes was receiving. Someone else mentioned how they would be up for watching it, and after a quick search of nearby screenings, we ended up in the cinema at the last showing just as the opening titles rolled. Spontaneous cinema trips are just the best.

It was definitely worth the late night/early morning trek home, too. War... is a war drama that focuses on conflict but hones in on a personal tale and vendetta almost like an old Western. It's not as generic as man vs. ape as the trailer suggests, and unlike the previous two films, it is wholly from ape perspective. Considering predecessors Rise (2011) and Dawn (2014) were such critically acclaimed outings, War had a lot to live up to. It's the third (but not necessarily last) chapter in the series, but definitely feels like a finale. But a fitting one at that. Previously, an out of control virus led to the apes gaining enhanced cognition and intelligence, and a global pandemic that wiped out millions of humans. The ape clan leader Caesar (a once again phenomenal Andy Serkis) is still haunted by his demons - a rebel ape named Kobo, and is now facing the Colonel (Woody Harrelson who smiles way less than Colonel KFC). Colonel wants to wipe out all apes; it's a showdown that involves a militant dictator building a wall. Hmm. It's hard to easily define 'good' vs. 'bad', because ideally they'd co-exist, but it's equally hard to root for the humans. But then again there's darkness within Caesar; it's subtly not very straightforward.

Caesar's journey of vengeance brings him and his closest followers across the country as he hunts down the Colonel. Two of the new characters that accidentally join this journey are two that couldn't be more different. One is a "Bad Ape" (Steve Zahn), a gilet-wearing wildcard from the zoo who provides the comic relief in a way that somehow reminds me of Frozen's Olaf and Star Wars' Yoda. He's not quite loveable but certainly is something else. The other character is a sweet child nicknamed Nova (Amiah Miller) who is adopted by the primates and whose innocence is a bit like Caesar's from the first film. She spends a lot of time gaping at the apes, looks like a young Amanda Seyfried, gets the most goosebump-worthy scene, and plays a big role in one of the questions the film raises about identity: what makes a human, human?

What's really intriguing about War is its imagery, mythology and layers. It alludes to American slavery, civil war, civil rights, Biblical stories, and it all fits into a neat storyline of the apes wishing to find a new, peaceful home. Eden is so close yet so far. There's all this stuff we can't see, but there's also a marvellous amount we can see. The visual effects are top notch as expected, with Andy Serkis bossing it as per usual. We probably see Caesar in his most emotional state to date, and that heartbreak is conveyed perfectly despite the fact that Serkis has CGI dots all over his face. Bravo Serkis, bravo tech people. Technology has come a long way since the 1968 film and it's great.

I couldn't quite give War for the Planet of the Apes a full 5 stars. The heavy dramatic slow-mo moments are overplayed a bit too much and for me lost some effectiveness as a result. I also can't help wondering what's going on with the rest of the planet outside of America, but maybe that's just me. However, from the very start, we're sucked into an utterly convincing and wholesome story that doesn't need to speak volumes and will make you want to give Director Matt Reeves a pat on the back. It may be nearly 2 and a half hours long, but view it as an extended poem. It may also consist of 80% ape interaction, and actually we're so immersed in this world that we forget we're not apes? What? Nonetheless, this is a film about our very humanity and you'd be a silly human not to watch it.

War for the Planet of the Apes is in cinemas now.