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*Disclaimer! This review contains spoilers towards the end. Proceed with caution*

War for the Planet of the Apes is the third movie in the new Apes trilogy. It is the continued story of an ape named Caesar who, after being spurned by human attacks, goes on a mission to hunt down the responsible party. He makes some new friends along the way as they traverse this post-apocalyptic world. Caesar is tested throughout his journey as he leads his people through the ape war with the humans in search of peace and freedom.

As usual, the motion capture work done in these films is fantastic. I feel this way whenever a new one comes out, but the apes truly feel real. The facial animations that result from the motion capture are very human and thus make the apes seem more intelligent, which is exactly what is intended. The CGI on the apes especially is done in a way that looks and feels real rather than coming across as cartoonish and over-the-top, something that many modern films struggle to do. Andy Serkis once again shows off his mastery of the craft in his movements and speech patterns as Caesar.

A big element of War for the Planet of the Apes that, from conversations had post film, is bound to be controversial is the manner of story-telling. I personally love the fact that director Matt Reeves managed to tell a completely comprehendible story with very little dialogue. The vast majority of the movie is either subtitled or just grunts from the various characters. Even then, there really weren’t that many subtitles. Caesar, the colonel, and a few other humans regularly talk (as well as a few barely-English lines from the various apes) but that’s it.

I personally didn’t think there even needed to be that much dialogue due to how good the cinematography was. Most of what you needed to know was shown to you rather than told to you. The way the camera focused on certain objects, the way the actors emoted to each other, etc. all accomplished this and still managed to be believable and understandable. This is very surprising considering how dialogue-heavy the last two Planet of the Apes films were, but considering this was a war film, it made sense.

*Spoilers start here*

There were several scenes of exposition dumps that completely countered the wonderful visual story-telling. Granted, they helped to explain some of the more confusing plot points, but I’m sure they could have found more visual ways to explain some of it. There’s one scene in particular between Caesar and the colonel that is literally 10 minutes of exposition dumping. It cleared up quite a bit about why certain humans were losing their ability to speak, why the Colonel is the way he is, and so on. However, there’s a scene later in the movie that further visually explains the colonel’s backstory and they could’ve easily done the same for the non-speaking humans. It made this particular exposition scene a lot worse in hindsight and hindered the otherwise fantastic world-building of the film.

One other major issue with the story-telling is that it relies way too heavily on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Yes, War is a direct sequel to Dawn, but it didn’t follow the story-telling precedent that this trilogy seemed to want to set. That precedent being that each individual film stands on its own, thus not relying too much on the story of the past. Of course, sequels need to reference past events otherwise, why even bother keeping them in the same story universe? However, every time Koba showed up in one of Caesar’s fever dreams, it just took me out of the movie. War for the Planet of the Apes also seems to struggle to decide whether it wants to be a sequel or its own thing. We consistently have scenes like this, and exposition scenes about the past, but, like with the last two films, the majority of characters are new ones with no relation to the previous cast.

Overall, War for the Planet of the Apes was a great movie. It told an excellent story and, for the most part, managed to tell it well. It didn’t manage to detach itself very well from Rise or Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and, as such, it isn’t as good as those two films. That being said, I still highly recommend you go see it because it is still a good time at the movies.

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I spend most of my days working towards my Writing and Rhetoric degree at the University of Central Florida, but I spend a lot of my down time keeping up to date on the best TV, movies, and video games the industry has to offer. Here I put all of that extended time to use discussing each of them in-depth.

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Geek Culture

In the TV show Fallout, would the “rule of thumb” really work?

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1 week ago

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April 24, 2024

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Walton Goggins’ character, who plays someone in the first episode of the new TV series Fallout on Amazon, mentions a “rule of thumb” when it comes to nuclear explosions.

According to the character known as “The Ghoul,” he learned in military school that if you raise your thumb and extend your arm toward the blast, you can tell if you are going to live or die. According to the rule, some Americans will be safe from the radioactive fallout if the mushroom cloud is smaller than their thumb. If the mushroom cloud is bigger than their thumb, they won’t be as lucky.

Many other survivors will probably ask you why you’re giving a mushroom cloud the big thumbs up. Is it worth it?

The idea has been looked into a bit thanks to the Fallout video game series, which caught the attention of physicists in their first year at the University of Leicester. They had heard a false rumor that the show’s mascot, Vault Boy, was giving a happy thumbs up to show support for the thumb rule. They wanted to find out if the rule was true.

The team looked at smaller blasts that would fit with the setting of the show and chose a 15-kiloton blast, which is the same size as the blast that happened when the US dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. The first thing the team did was figure out how far away you would have to be from the mushroom cloud for your thumb to cover the blast. They came up with a number that was about 12.6 kilometers (7.8 miles).

“Assuming the detonation occurred on the ground, the radius for avoiding all burns is 4.67 km [2.9 miles] away from the blast center, and the radius for radiation sickness symptoms is 1.56 km [0.97 miles],” the team said in their paper. “This would mean that you would be safe from the initial blast effects of radiation and burns.”

Even though you just saw a nuclear explosion nearby, that doesn’t mean you are safe. And that’s before you worry about nuclear winter. The radiation coming at you from the wind should be your main concern.

“Assuming an average wind speed of 24 km/h, the fallout would reach you within approximately half an hour if you were to be standing directly upwind.”

Getting caught in this wind will give you enough rads to make you sick. One more rule, though: run like hell. This might help you lower your dose.

“This investigation showed that if a 15-kiloton nuclear bomb was to detonate and your thumb extended at an arm’s length just covered the blast, you could survive most negative radiation effects by running laterally in the direction of the wind for a minimum of 1.65 km [1 mile] in half an hour, given that you are standing directly upwind from the blast,” the team said.

But this only works for a blast much smaller than the weapons the world has now. And even for smaller blasts, the rule probably won’t help because of the radiation that is released into the air and the fact that the wind can change quickly. Ruth McBurney, who is the executive director of the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors in Frankfort, Kentucky, told Inverse that “shelter is the best thing to do if you think you might be in a place where fallout might be present or coming.”

More plans call for temporarily taking refuge in whatever is available, and then moving to better nearby shelters about 30 minutes after the blast. There are, of course, official rules about what to do during a blast. In short, you should stay inside and away from windows, wash your hands, and wait for more instructions. Please don’t condition your hair while you’re doing that.

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Gaming

Sony is reportedly engaged in discussions to form a partnership for a potential bid on Paramount

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2 weeks ago

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April 19, 2024

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There hasn’t been much buzz lately about any new acquisitions in the world of video game intellectual property. According to a recent report, Sony is currently engaged in discussions with a well-funded partner to potentially acquire the renowned film studio Paramount, along with all the exciting possibilities that come with such a merger.

As reported in the New York Times (thanks, ResetEra), Sony Picture Entertainment is reportedly in discussions with Apollo Global Management, an investment firm, as per two sources familiar with the matter. In the past, Apollo had made an offer to acquire Paramount for a minimum of $26 billion, but their bid was ultimately turned down.

The terms of the joint bid are currently under discussion, and there is a chance that the two parties may decide against making a formal offer. Unnamed sources have revealed that Paramount is currently in exclusive discussions with Skydance, preventing any official offer from being made at this time. Investor opposition to the recent deal that Skydance brought seems to have been significant.

The potential impact of such an acquisition is immense. First and foremost, it would introduce adaptations of Sonic and Halo into the expanding media empire of the PlayStation platform holder. Following the announcement, Paramount’s stock experienced a significant 11% surge in after-hours trading.

What are your thoughts on the news? Is there a possibility of Sony acquiring Paramount? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Geek Culture

Fallout Season 2 has been confirmed as the show continues to captivate audiences, making it one of Amazon’s most-watched series

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2 weeks ago

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April 19, 2024

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Amazon has just made the exciting announcement that a second season of the highly acclaimed Fallout TV adaptation is in the works. Fans can look forward to another thrilling installment of the series, which will be exclusively available on the Amazon Prime streaming service. Confirmation has arrived regarding the second batch of episodes for the series, following the acquisition of $25 million in Californian tax credits.

In just four days after its release, Fallout has already captivated audiences, quickly becoming one of Amazon Prime’s most-watched TV shows of all time. It has garnered immense popularity, rivaling even the acclaimed season of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.

The Fallout TV show has caused a massive surge in sales for the newer games, resulting in a staggering 7,500% increase in purchases of Fallout 4 in Europe. Fallout 76, Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas were also among the top 10 best-selling games across the continent last week. Next week, the highly anticipated PS5 version of Fallout 4 will be released, offering players an enhanced visual experience with new graphical modes. Additionally, players can look forward to exciting new content from the Creation Club.

Considering the potential for character development and narrative arcs, it would be intriguing to see where season two takes Lucy, Maximus, and The Ghoul. Without revealing any spoilers, it’s exciting to speculate on the possible directions their stories could go. We would greatly appreciate your feedback in the comments section.

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