WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (3) vs. AVATAR (6)

VS.

ACTING -  It’s hard to evaluate a movie where half of the cast is apes.  The apes were created through motion capture and CGI technology.  Some question whether this involves acting, but the trend is to accept the performances as acting.  This has been mainly because of the work of Adam Serkis.  He plays Ceasar in the series and was nominated for numerous awards including the Saturn Awards.  Sadly, the stodgier Academy has yet to acknowledge this type of acting.  The apes are incredibly life-like and that is due to the technology.  However, some credit must be given to the actors.  Aside from the ape actors, the only other significant acting is done by Woody Harrelson as The Colonel.  He’s a stock character, but Harrelson is fine.  GRADE  =  B

“Avatar” is similar to “Planet” in that half of the actors are motion capture / CGI created.  In this case, the actors did not have to move around like apes, so “Planet” must have been more challenging.  “Avatar” swept the acting awards at the Saturn Awards:  Sam Worthington for Best Actor, Zoe Saldana for Best Actress, Stephen Lang for Best Supporting Actor, and Sigourney Weaver for Best Supporting Actress.  Lang stands out in a role similar to Harrelson’s.  His Colonel is more menacing and hiss-worthy than “Planet’s”.  The actors get more of a chance to emote and there is not a false note in the film.  GRADE  =  A

ENTERTAINMENT -  As a war movie, “Planet” comes up short.  There is only one big battle scene and it is not humans versus apes.  The apes are amazing to watch and the characters are appealing, but the movie is predictable and has some shaky plot developments.  It works better as a revenge flick with a prison escape thrown in.  The ending is ludicrous.  The main villain is cartoonish.  GRADE  =  C

“Avatar” is more of a Western than a war movie.  It has a simplistic plot and is riddled with clichés.  The characters are mostly stock.  It bludgeons you with its morality.  All this said, it is a very entertaining movie.  It is not the biggest money maker in history for nothing.  This was mainly due to the astounding visual effects.  The plot may be shallow, but it is crowd pleasing.  It has a decent romance, suspense, and a kick-ass battle scene to finish.  GRADE = B

 

COMBAT -  “Planet” starts strong with an assault on an ape outpost, but after that there is not a lot of action until the climactic battle.  Both combat scenes are generic and mostly rely on noise.  There are no special weapons.  The combat lacks quantity as well as quality.  GRADE  =  C

“Avatar” does not have a lot of combat until the end, but then it gets real.  The attack to destroy the Hometree has plenty of fireworks.  The RDA’s preemptive assault on the Tree of Souls cuts loose a load of violience.  While aerial combat ensues in the sky, there is a land battle going on between soldiers in amp suits and regular soldier expendables versus the natives plus the animal kingdom.  The kitchen sink is thrown in.  It culminates in a duel straight out of a gladiator movie. The whole scenario reminds of the ending battle in “Return of the Jedi”, but it is done with more competency and no Ewoks.  GRADE  =  B

ENEMY -  The enemy in “Planet” is the humans led by the Colonel.  They are your typical rogue unit of mercenaries.  The Colonel is similar to Col. Kurtz in “Apocalypse Now” or any other unhinged military leader who goes off the reservation.  Compared to most of the alien enemies in this tournament, this enemy is pretty lame.  GRADE  =  D

The enemies in “Avatar” are humans, too.  The RDA is a private army for the company that is raping Pandora for its resources.  There are two villains in this movie.  The company representative is all about the bottom line and the Na’vi are effecting it.  You’ve seen this amoral executive before.  The head of the RDA is Col. Quaritch and he makes Custer look like a Indian-lover.  He eats nuts and bolts for breakfast.  The RDA remind a little of the enemy in “Planets” but they have much more firepower and those cool amp suits.  GRADE  =  C

ANALYSIS:  “War for the Planet of the Apes” is not a bad movie, but it does not fit well in the tournament. It was lucky to face “Independence Day” in the opening round.  The categories in this round did not play to its strengths.  It is entertaining to watch the incredibly depicted apes in a standard sci-fi plot, but the war movie aspects are weak.  “Avatar” is clearly a war movie.  There are opposing sides fighting for dominance on a planet.  Although basically a revisionist Western set in the future on another planet, it does have a battle with strategy and tactics.  it is certainly a better sci-fi movie than a war movie, but it is clearly better than “Planet” in this competition.

AVATAR  =  32

PLANET  =  28

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (3) vs. INDEPENDENCE DAY (14)

VS.

PLOT - "War for the Planet of the Apes" is the third movie in the reboot, occurring seventeen years after the first. The apes led by Caesar are living in a forest when a rogue military unit led by "the Colonel" finds them. The Colonel is obsessed with wiping out the apes. A new virus is affecting humans. The movie evolves into a prison escape movie as Caesar and most of his tribe get captured. The screenwriter tries to be inventive, but most of the elements are cribbed from other movies. It combines revenge and prison escape The virus subplot is gimmicky and the Colonel is cartoonish. GRADE = C

In "Independence Day", giant alien spacecraft arrive and hover over key cities. They prove to be unfriendly when they start destroying our great landmarks. Lucky for Earthlings, we have an alien fighter and a hot shot pilot who can fly anything. An eccentric genius and the pilot will fly into the alien mother ship to break down their defenses in coordination with an assault led by the President himself. Does that sound unintellectual? Well, it is. The movie is full of stereotypes and clichés. It is all very predictable in its entertainment for the masses. GRADE = D

STRATEGY AND TACTICS - The strategy of the apes is to avoid contact with the humans and the Colonel's plan is search and destroy. Same strategies as in the Indian Wars (which makes the movie similar to "Avatar"). In the opening attack, the humans sneak up on an ape outpost and make a frontal assault. Neither side is big on security. And the screenwriter is unfamiliar with flanking. In the final battle, the human army attacking the Colonel's fortress uses simple frontal tactics with a bit of air support. They could have blasted the fortress from afar, but where's the fun in that. GRADE = C

The alien plan in ID is to cow the world by destroying its major cities. The tactic is not exactly sneaky, you just hover and then use the energy beam. If attacked, their fighters use swarm tactics in defense and also can be used for strafing enemy bases. The Earthling strategy is your standard panic and run. Until the scientists come up with the computer virus gambit. The tactic involves a frontal assault with no diversion and an infiltration using a Trojan Horse. The alien strategy and tactics make perfect sense and yet they lose to morons. But then again, the aliens aren't suspicious about a fifty-year old Attacker (fighter space craft). GRADE = D

WEAPONRY - There's nothing special in this area in "Planet". The movie is set in the future, but it is not futuristic. The apes use arrows predominately and the humans have a variety of current machine guns, although one has an anachronistic crossbow. GRADE = C

In ID, the Americans use F/A - 18 Hornets and nothing else! Their missiles have no effect on the alien spacecraft. One use of a nuclear missile fails against the alien force field. The aliens have giant City Destroyers that do what their names imply with some type of energy beam. They can not be hurt by any Earth weapons, but are susceptible to computer viruses. But what are the chances a virus can be introduced from within the ship? The fighters are called Attackers and are your standard Star Wars style craft. They are extremely agile which make them very hard to defeat in a dog-fight. With their projectile shields, they are vulnerable to only cliff walls. They fire energy projectiles. Nothing you haven't seen before. GRADE = D

SPECIAL EFFECTS - The CGI for the apes is incredible. The movie used a combination of CGI and motion capture. There is not much special effects aside from the apes. The final battle is mostly explosions. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Special Effects. GRADE = A-

ID had a record number of special effects shots. It incorporated both CGI and miniatures. The White House was a model. The results are famous. Unfortunately, the dog-fights are generic and not an improvement on the first "Star Wars". The creatures are silly looking. It won the Oscar for Best Special Effects. GRADE = B

ANALYSIS: Neither movie fits comfortably in the tournament. Although "Planet" has the word war in the title, it is not really a war movie. If anything, it is a prison escape movie. What little combat it has is simplistic. No effort was put into the weaponry, other than the odd inclusion of a crossbow for a main character. The strategy and tactics are unimportant to the story line. It is an entertaining movie with its hero ape and dastardly humans, but the plot is unimaginative. The real reason to watch it is for the astounding CGI. "Independence Day" is one of the most intelligence-insulting movies ever made. More than in most sci-fi movies featuring an alien invasion, the aliens are totally dominant. But once again, as in all movies with this plot, humans manage to overcome in a totally unrealistic way. There is no excuse for the cheesiness of the plot other than it resulted in huge box office.

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES = 30
INDEPENDENCE DAY = 22