Lean And Mean

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Matt Reeves channels David Lean for the latest entry in the simian saga.

- Jordan Farley

Ooh yeah, I’d love a cup of tea,” says Andy Serkis, visibly shivering as he accepts a Styrofoam cup. “Welcome to sunny Vancouver!” On a brass monkey-cold October afternoon, the actor’s suffering for his art, standing in a Canadian forest as his skintight suit soaks up the rain that’s bucketing down – less Weta, more wetter. “I think we’re looking into rethinking the undergarments,” Serkis confides, as the roof of the press tent sags under the weight of pooling water.

The performance-capture expert is otherwise quite happy with his lot. War For The Planet Of The Apes marks his third outing as Caesar, the super intelligent chimp who grew up among humans but rose to lead an ape community after a virus devastated mankind. Now the character’s getting on a bit – and is wracked with guilt after the events of 2014’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, in which he terminated rebel ape Koba.

“What he carries with him throughout the story is that Koba was a brother, in a sense,” Serkis explains. “He would be the equivalent of mid-fifties now, in ape years, and the strain of being leader has taken its toll. He’s very grave and furrow-browed; he’s been beaten down. He’s always tried to keep the peace, but it’s getting more difficult, and as events unfold he has a radical shift of thinking, because he’s caught up with his own emotions.”

Ah, yes – that titular war. As director Matt Reeves explains, a lot has transpired since the credits rolled on the previous installment.