War for the Planet of the Apes

Okay, I know this is not exactly indie. But neither was Jaws or Once Upon A Time in the West. We are an ecumenical group, more devoted to the gospel of good film than to the intricacies of a movie's financing or distribution. "Indie" is an attitude.

All that excuse-making aside, the modern reboot series of the Planet of the Apes movies has exceeded their source material in every way. The previous two installments have been smart, empathic, well-written, and with astounding special effects. The critics have been mostly saying that this capstone of the trilogy is the best of them, so it looks like we'll have a good night at the movies.

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So, let's resign ourselves to summer, watch a summer movie, and maybe see some Judy Dench movie later in the month. For now, I can offer you all monkeys with guns.

We'll catch an early-ish show. For those who want to, we can then adjourn to dinner at Maggianio's or someplace to argue about the movie.

Apart from pulling off the unique trick of having us root for human extinction, War foregrounds a beautiful tension between the savage instinct for retribution and higher restraint -- ironically fought within the heart of an animal.Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out

With War for the Planet of the Apes, technological wizardry and first-rate storytelling combine into a bracing action-adventure that concludes the best science fiction trilogy since the original trio of Star Wars movies.Eric Kohn, IndieWire