Directed by: J. Lee Thompson
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Paul Williams, and John Huston
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
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Reviewer's Rating: **½ (Two and a half Stars)
Concluding the long-running Planet of the Apes series, Battle takes place some decades after the previous film; Caesar (Roddy McDowall) has now aged to have a son of his own, and we glimpse something heretofore unseen in the saga: man and ape working together to forge a better world after a nuclear apocalypse. Of course, this doesn’t last long, as the first strife breaks out between ape and gorilla; meanwhile, a group of survivors in a now-underground human city attempt to wage war against the apes. Both of these aspects were first shown in the first sequel in the series, and this final entry feels like so much maneuvering to set up that film. In fact, Battle seemingly doesn’t exist to do much else but set up those future events, despite Caesar’s insistence that the future is not set.
There is at least an interesting, intimate arc and conflict for our protagonist here; every Caesar has his Brutus, even simian ones I suppose. Caesar’s struggle with rival general Aldo (Claude Akins) is the film’s most interesting aspect, if only because it has some sort of meaning and leads to some interesting moral quandaries. The conflict between human and ape mostly feels like a re-tread of previous entries, with the climatic, titular battle being a bit underwhelming and stage-bound. As always, there’s a real-world parallel to the two sides’ insistence on mutually-assured destruction, but this isn’t exactly a deep, thoughtful Cold War mediation.
Instead, it’s the fifth Planet of the Apes film, and it’s serviceable enough at best. The series limps to the finish line a bit by going through some well-worn motions, and it’s certainly as heavy-handed as ever. At this point, I think it’s obvious that an ape can lead a human to water, but making him drink is another story altogether; in this case, there’s not much to sip.
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