I saw a preview screening of War of the Planet of the Apes last night and it was fantastic! A perfect conclusion to the trilogy and definitely my favorite film of the summer.
WETA has outdone themselves again with the effects. It's insane how detailed and realistic the apes look, such as light reflecting off their faces illuminating certain details. It's a landmark achievement in visual effects and I was consistently amazed by how realistic it looked. It's practically an animated film at times, but it always feels completely real.
It has an epic scope captured by the gorgeous cinematography. It totally feels like a war film, with vast battle scenes and themes on the psychological effects on the tension of war. It has a completely bleak tone throughout that never really lets up, although there's some comic relief with Steve Zahn's chimp character. Regardless, you really feel the brutalities that the characters are experiencing.
The performances are all fantastic, with Serkis knocking it out of the park again with his layered and emotional performance. Caesar has clearly been through a lot and has gotten near the level of being a myth and legend to his fellow apes. The way that the Colonel, played by a terrific Woody Harrelson, and Nova, the little girl, represent the good in bad and humanity to Caesar provides great conflict for him as a character.
The series has definitely been consistent, and the third one is no different. It has the same level of thematic depth, characterization, and storytelling as the first two and doesn't disappoint in the slightest. Without a doubt, it's the most emotionally invested I've been in a blockbuster in a very long time.
I have a more in-depth review, if you're interested.