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THE ASTÉRIX CARTOONS - REVIEW OVERVIEW

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In this new episode of Review Overview, I talk about the Astérix animated features.

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES - VLOG 25/07/17

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I talk briefly about War For The Planet Of The Apes .

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES - REVIEW

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After the Rise and the Dawn comes the  War For The Planet Of The Apes , the third and last part of the Caesar prequel trilogy in which Andy Serkis' motion-captured ape leads his intelligent kind to battle against the humans once and for all. Or, at least, that's what the trailers would have you believe. Based on those, you'd think the entire film was all-out war with Woody Harrelson's intimidating baddie facing off against Caesar in one last epic stand. The film is not that at all, it's actually much more subtle than that but "subtle" doesn't exactly make for exciting, bombastic trailers. The war in question is a rogue group of soldiers, led by The Colonel (Harrelson), who are trying to eliminate and/or enslave all the apes living in the forest. The apes defend themselves, of course, but it's not really a war for them, it's survival as they plan to leave the forest for a more peaceful setting. Unfortunately, The Colonel murders Caesar'

CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - REVIEW

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Going back to this one post- Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (and Rise) was certainly a bizarre experiment seeing as Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes is essentially the basis for these reboots even if it has a pretty different vibe and plot to it. As with every Planet Of The Apes sequel, the film starts with some hugely unconvincing expositional dialog only there to explain what happened between movies and justify stuff that was foreseen in Escape From The Planet Of The Apes . Roddy McDowall is back, not as Cornelius mind you but as that very ape's son Caesar, who was being kept hidden by circus ringmaster Armando (Ricardo Montalban reprising his role) as the humans started freaking out about the future and, following a disease affecting cats and dogs, using apes as slaves performing all kinds of mindless manual tasks for them. Ludicrous? Definitely, but no more than time-travelling apes. The thing is, this whole pet scenario makes very little sense and the fact that all the

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - REVIEW

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Who knew that a franchise based on talking apes taking over the world somehow would still be around today making big bucks? And with Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes not so much rebooting the whole thing as it was essentially remaking the fourth and fifth films (Conquest and Battle), it's amazing that a story we've seen told over and over is still putting asses in cinema seats. I was no fan of Rise, those CGI apes were a turn off, the film itself was really clunky and I was nowhere near excited to see Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes . And this is coming from a fan of the first 5 movies, especially the original classic. There was something missing from Rise, menace, stand out performances and a good, convincing build-up being part of it. With Dawn, we continue the story after a virus has wiped out most of humanity and super-smart ape Caesar has built a community of his own kind in San Francisco. The plot, this time, revolves around the humans wanting to fix some generator

WHY COOKIE ROCKET?

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RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - REVIEW

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Making a good film involving talking apes throwing spears has never been an easy task. The Charlton Heston-starring original almost feels like a fluke in that it did everything right with content that could so easily have been botched-up. I mean, what's sillier than apes riding horses? I'll tell you. CGI apes riding horses. Yes, many of the old Planet Of The Apes sequels failed to capture the original's stature, yes the TV series didn't have the budget needed and yes the Tim Burton remake is the director's worst achievement to date. And yet I would gladly sit through Mark Wahlberg's soulless journey once again rather than rewatch this new offering. Why, do you ask? Seen the trailers? Really what it comes down to is the sheer irrelevance that this entire production displays. The "rise" of the apes has been pretty much covered left and right in previous instalments besides, here's one film which will no doubt ruin the end twist of the ori