It’s the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.




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The apes are back this weekend, in both the movies, actually. We welcome the opening of the well-received third entry in the rebooted Planet of the Apes series - War for the Planet of the Apes.

We’ll then follow this up with a movie for the kids called The Son of Bigfoot, also about apes, in a way, at least. So kick back as we enter the final weeks of what has been a hot summer, and as one of the final big Hollywood sequels hits us.

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Mike Laidman

Welcome to another edition of Film Focus. I’m Mike Laidman.

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War for the Planet of the Apes (2017, Matt Reeves)
Caesar fights with his instincts and looks to avenge his kind.

This third and final entry in the reboot which follows the ape Caesar has been critically acclaimed, but hasn’t managed to back up that acclaim with box-office numbers. Don’t let that put you off, though, as there are so many factors at play when it comes to success.
Here, in War for the Planet of the Apes, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.

War is a thinking blockbuster, one that features all of the high-stakes action, CGI, and drama, but that also succeeds on a personal level. We see Caesar, played brilliantly by motion-capture genius Andy Serkis, descend into darkness, and the connections to Shakespeare, slavery, and civil rights are thick throughout. Smart, thoughtful, and confrontational, this is one of the best summer blockbusters in years.

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The Son of Bigfoot (2017, Jeremy Degruson, Ben Stassen)
A teenage boy journeys to find his missing father.

As we so often do for our second movie, we’re going to move to something for the kids, but still maintain our monkey theme. Here is The Son of Bigfoot, an animated tale about a teenage boy who, while searching for his missing father, discovers that he is actually Bigfoot.

His father has been hiding deep in the forest for years to protect himself and his family from HairCo., a giant corporation eager to run scientific experiments with his special DNA. As father and son start making up for lost time after the boy's initial disbelief, Adam soon discovers that he too is gifted with superpowers beyond his imagination. But little do they know, HairCo. is on their tail as Adam's traces have led them to Bigfoot!

Unlike recent animated work from Pixar and Dreamworks, there isn’t much here to entertain adults, but kids will like it just fine.