As superhero films have all but taken over the tentpole movie concept the films all start to feel the same. Even Wonder Woman, which I thought was lovely and strove to be different, ended with a generic CG addled superhero battle that could almost have been copied and pasted in from any of the dozen superhero films of the last few years. At the end of the day, no matter how inventive you get with superheroes, you’re still making the same kind of movie - a movie about power and responsibility. As a huge comic book fan I was as thrilled as anyone when this age of superhero movies being a real thing began, but nowadays I can’t help but crave different kinds of stories from my tentpole films.
Besides Mad Max: Fury Road, the Planet of The Apes reboots have stood out as some of the most exciting tentpoles out there. The second film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, focused on two sides, both justified in hating each other, making one last attempt at peace. This is a strongly themed blockbuster that does things that superhero movies are unable to do, simply because once you have a story based around a ‘hero’ it changes the nature of the narrative.
Beyond the Apes film being a refreshing change in the world of tentpoles, they’re also a masterclass in how to do a reboot. As we see reboot after reboot stumble, you can look to the Ape reboots and see how they went to the core of the series and both refreshed it while honoring it to create something new that only heightens the power of the original films.
A lot can be said for Matt Reeve’s direction as well. With the new film just around the corner and highly positive early buzz flowing in, Empire Magazine interviewed the director on his process for the new film.
Reeves explains that he “wanted this film to be like a Biblical epic.” He mentions looking at classic war movies such as The Bridge On The River Kwai, Patton, Apocalypse Now . But even more interesting for me is when he followed up with an epic of a different sort.
“We were also thinking in terms of things such as The Ten Commandments. I wanted it to feel very intimate in the foreground, but with grand vistas always dwarfing [the characters]. In a sense it’s about these two species pitted against each other and nature being greater than both of them. I wanted a David Lean ape movie.”
This shows that he wasn’t watching the old war films just to see how they shot battles, but he is examining how these old films worked on the audience, how they staged the quieter scenes. In short he’s doing his homework. We only have to wait until July 14 to see if he fulfills his goals, I for one could not be more excited about a David Lean ape movie.
