Well, this is basically just a follow up to my Planet of the Apes review from the weekend, now that I've watched through all five movies.
After starting out with such a classic like PotA, there's not much room to get better. And a LOT of space to get worse to be wary of... This series, for the most part, was wary of this. Overall, it's a steadily entertaining series, despite a continous rise in ridiculousness, before a redeeming final chapter.
In Beneath, we continue from where the original left off. In a very ambitious and effective first two acts, we find ourselves not only attached to Heston's Taylor and his newly found Nova, but also a new astronaut who came looking for Taylor, whose name slips my mind (my most sincere apologies, to those so anal that they'll hate me for not knowing this). We follow them underground, and, I'm not going to spoil anything, but basically, if you're watching, at this point, detach yourself from feeling for charcters, and just be ready to be simply entertained and nothing more, because it's just downhill after a strong start.
Escape follows Cornelius and Zira from the original two, back in time, to our time, on Earth... It's fairly silly, but definitely entertaining. There's not really much to say on this, to be honest. Just imagine what'd happen if talking apes landed on Earth tomorrow, and you'll have an idea of this plot. Until the end, which again, I won't spoil, that's about it. Again though, just be ready to be entertained, because that's ALL this movie gives you. It is entertaining, but just don't expect much more.
Conquest then starts up with Caesar, the son of Zira and Cornelius. Basically, apes are now humans slaves in 1991. Caesar doesn't like this and starts a rebellion against the humans to become the superior race on Earth. Basically it's just telling us how the Planet of the Apes came about from the first movie. It's a little more violent than the others, but also much more silly. Entertaining again, but eh, it's hit or miss with audiences, I'm sure.
Battle then finishes us off nicely. Basically, chimps are the good Apes, gorillas are the bad apes, and humans fight to be equal with the Apes. More or less along those lines. It's essentially just a further telling of how the Planet of the Apes came about, however, it's hinted at the end, that the future may have been altered. Won't say how, you'll have to see for yourself, but this film, basically, as in the title, is the humans vs. the apes, in a battle for the planet.
Overall, it's a nice series. For a non-completist fan, the original is probably enough for you, and maybe Beneath to fill in any curiosities, but not worth past that. For the completist fans, I'm sure you can find something to like in all five movies, and most are at least worth the watch.
Series verdict: worth a watch, but only the original is not to be missed.
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