The new trailer 2 for War for the Planet of the Apes has a lot more talking apes after two movies of sign language and silence. Maybe War for the Planet of the Apes will be more like the original Planet of the Apes and its 75 percent focus on ape ethical debates? But no, the official synopsis spoils that those chitty-chatty apes won’t be around for long: “after the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.” Though it’s not evident in the trailers, it sure sounds like War for the Planet of the Apes begins with a devastating slaughter. Sad!
The new trailer sells War as half war movie, half road movie, with immense battle scenes connected with apes riding horses through melancholic vistas. It looks as deadly serious and straight-faced as its predecessor Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
There are a lot of unexpected new elements in here. One of the new characters is an albino gorilla. The human child semi-adopted by the orangutan Maurice seems to be a significant part of the plot.
But the weirdest new wrinkle to Planet of the Apes’ political commentary are the gorilla collaborators working with Woody Harrelson’s warlord, a character known only as Colonel. Can Caesar turn them against their masters? Or might the two species build a future together?
We’ll see when War for the Planet of the Apes premieres in theaters July 14.
