My first impression is that it's probably the best of the new trilogy. It's not entirely a "war" movie, though, but more like a "Battle" movie. However, that title is already taken, so we're left with something more extreme. WAR.

Actually, the movie is more like a prison / concentration camp movie, which reminded me of "Conquest". That was the most violent entry in the original series, scoring a whopping PG-13 rating, but this one is considerably darker. There's a lot of physical abuse towards these apes, which reminded me of the conditioning sequences in Conquest, but this is worse.

Woody Harrelson sure does hate those apes.


For fans of the series, they do throw in a couple eggs for us. Even though the old series isn't in continuity with the current series, it still leads up to a prominent concept of the original '68 film with people losing the ability to speak. There's also the inclusion of (versions of) the characters Cornelius and Nova.

Overall, it's a solid movie, and a solid end of the trilogy. That is... unless they want to milk it and make another, because hey... apes sell. They'll find any reason to continue if it makes them money. Hell, maybe they'll throw time-travel back into the story! (Probably not)