Indeed, one of the scenes showcased from “War For The Planet Of The Apes” featured an element previously not seen in the series: a sense of comedic relief. Caesar and his men come across “Bad Ape” (Steve Zahn), a younger, super-intelligent ape whose speech is as evolved as Caesar’s. On his own, Bad Ape — overexcitable and clumsy, adding humor to an otherwise intense film — doesn’t even know how to speak the primate language. It turns out he’s from a zoo, similar to the one Caesar was held in.
Reeves hinted that Bad Ape expands the ‘Apes’ universe and scope far beyond what audiences have previously seen. “[The character] provides a tremendous amount of humor, but he’s also a window into the fact that there must be more apes, and they are all going to be different from Caesar’s apes. They’ve been brought up elsewhere and they don’t have Caesar to instill in them values and a sense of being,” he explained. “Not only does he add a lot of humor, he brings a tremendous amount of heart to the story.”
The final scene hinted at the western elements Reeves had spoken about. Much more sparse and quiet, it presented a rogue, deserted solider and his daughter. Without spoiling too much, the young, seemingly mute girl joins Caesar and his ape lieutenants on the mission to assassinate the Colonel.
“This mythic journey takes Caesar in a battle of wills to meet [The Colonel] and that is an enormous part of the movie,” Reeves said while hinting at the rest of the narrative. “There’s so much that happens in terms of the revelation of the mystery that’s building, and the condition that the humans are in, and the way that this fight is playing out —that to show you any of that stuff would actually be a spoiler.”
“It becomes ‘Bridge On The River Kwai’ in some ways,” he ended. “It’s the backdrop is this giant war movie.” Whatever Reeves is talking around, it sounds epic. You hopefully saw the full trailer for “The War For The Planet Of The Apes,” and it will give you not only a taste of the footage press was shown yesterday, but also a peek at the hearts of darkness battle brewing within its core. “War ForThe Planet Of The Apes” opens July 14, 2017. Watch the latest trailer here.