Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Impressions before seeing it
While I ultimately liked the previous movie (Escape From the Planet of the Apes), its bizarre embracing of comedy in an otherwise dramatic series had me concerned for the quality of the next two. In other words, expectations were low.

How was it?
Ah, that's better: back to something dark and serious. In fact, Conquest may be darker than the first three put together - I watched the unrated version, which apparently included violent scenes that were removed from the theatrical version. But it should be dark and grim, because it's about oppression leading to an uprising. I suppose all of the Planet of the Apes movies are technically about that, but this one puts it on a larger scale. However, it feels like this movie is only here to set up the fifth and final installment. I mean the poster basically tells you all the information you need to acquire from this one: the apes revolt... and that's about all that happens. There isn't even a plot twist or reveal at the end. I'm not complaining, there is some good action and I liked it more than movie number three, but is it necessary to use up a whole movie on a premise that can be explained by its poster? Well, maybe as long as there's another one coming, then this one can serve as a decent bridge to the conclusion. The other thing that makes this one memorable is Roddy McDowall's (returning as a new ape character) cool monologue at the end. I liked his performance, too. Since the ape makeup covers the entire face, he has to do a lot of acting with only his eyes, but he pulls it off and human expressions come through easily.

Recommendation
People seem to hate the sequels (the first two movies are still the best), but I felt this was an improvement over the last one and a welcome return to form. In the Escape post I said you may want to stop after the second one, but now I will say it's okay to keep going if, like me, you are entertained by the apes and their ongoing oppression/domination battle with mankind. It's not a perfect movie, but it works.