What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 27th July 2017.

'Planet of the Apes' which sees another film released under this banner this week (see Preview below) started out life way back in 1963 as a novel by French Author Pierre Boulle titled 'La Planete des Singes' (translated as 'Planet of the Apes' or 'Monkey Planet') and since then has gone on to spawn it's original 1968 film adaptation with Charlton Heston in the iconic role as Astronaut George Taylor who crash lands on a seemingly alien planet inhabited by intelligent apes who rule over humans, only to discover in the closing scene that he is in fact on Earth sometime in the distant future (if ever there was a twist at the end of a movie this ranks up there amongst the best of them!). In turn 'Planet of the Apes' in 1968 saw four sequels - 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes' in 1970; 'Escape from the Planet of the Apes' in 1971; 'Conquest of the Planet of the Apes' in 1972; and 'Battle for the Planet of the Apes' in 1973. These first five films cost a combined US$16M to bring to the big screen, and collectively they grossed a total worldwide Box Office stash of US$160M.

Then of course came Tim Burton's reimagining with 2001 'Planet of the Apes' which cost US$100M to make and raked in US$362M, but which met with a luke warm critical response. In the meantime, there had been a fourteen episode televisions series in 1974 that was based on the earlier film franchise that saw Roddy McDowall return as chimpanzee Galen, whereas McDowall played the ape Cornelius in two of the original films and Caesar, the son of Cornelius in the latter two. The series was canned after its first season due to lacklustre ratings, and in 1975 an animated series hit the TV screens for thirteen episodes, but once again due to average ratings only at best, a second season was never commissioned. However, the storyline continued in various novels by noted Sci-Fi authors of the day, as did comic books, toys and merchandise, video games and apparently a theme park ride is under construction in Malaysia too. Which brings us up to the present day, and a successful reboot of the franchise that is so far three films in, going strong and has seen solid Box Office returns and largely critical acclaim.

This week then there are just two new release films coming to your local independent theatre or multiplex. First up we have the second sequel in a successful rebooted Sci-Fi franchise that sees mankind face of head to head, hand to hand and toe to toe against simian kind to determine the rulers of our planet, and then we have a children's tale of a young lad learning a few life lessons from a giant walking, talking tree.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the two new releases as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are cordially invited to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and meanwhile, enjoy your cinematic experience in the coming week.

'WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES' (Rated M) - the 'Planet of the Apes' saga has a long history on both the big and small screen, but this last reboot of which this marks the third and supposedly final instalment has received widespread critical acclaim and commercial success. The original reintroduction to the franchise came in 2011 with 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' and was Directed by Rupert Wyatt for US$93M and grossed US$482M and starred James Franco, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis as Caesar, the first intelligent ape. In 2014 its sequel 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' was Directed by Matt Reeves for US$209M and grossed US$711M worldwide and starred Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Keri Russell, and Andy Serkis as Caesar again and Toby Kebbell as Koba, a lieutenant to Caesar. Now in 2017 we have 'War for the Planet of the Apes' Directed once again by Matt Reeves for US$150M and so far since its US release on 14th July has taken US$178M and stars Woody Harrelson as the main human protagonist and Andy Serkis again as Caesar. There are several likenesses with the fifth film in the original franchise series 'Battle for the Planet of the Apes' but this is not intended as a remake of that earlier 1973 film. 'War for the Planet of the Apes' has met with widespread critical acclaim with strong praise for the acting (Andy Serkis for his Mo-Cap performance especially), the storyline, the action scenes, the music score and the overall Direction.

And so to this gripping instalment. We join Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his apes who are forced into a deadly conflict with a military faction of humans known as Alpha-Omega led by the ruthless paramilitary Colonel McCullough (Woody Harrelson) who is obsessed with wiping out Caesar's tribe and any humans infected with the Simian Flu to preserve mankind's place as the dominant species. After the apes suffer huge losses at the hands of the Colonel's army, Caesar needs to come to terms with his own inner darker instincts and so embarks on his own journey to avenge his kind. As that journey counts down to the final face to face conflict, Caesar and the Colonel are pitched against one another in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both of them as individuals, their species and the planet. Talk of a fourth film in this rebooted franchise has already been mooted.

'A MONSTER CALLS' (Rated PG) - Directed by Spaniard Juan Antonio Garcia Boyega whose previous credits include 2012's 'The Impossible', 'A Monster Calls' is based on the low fantasy children's book by Patrick Ness published in 2011 of the same name. The film Premiered back last September at TIFF, was released in Spain in early October, then the US last Christmas and in the UK on New Years Day, and only now does its reach Australian cinemas having recovered US$46M from its US$43M budget outlay. Telling the story of young lad Conor O'Malley (Lewis McDougall) who is having to deal with far more challenges in his young life than other boys of his age. His beloved and devoted mother Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Clayton (Felicity Jones) is terminally ill. He has little in common and wants little to do with his strict and ruling grandmother Mrs. Clayton (Sigourney Weaver), and his father, Mr. O'Malley (Toby Kebbell) who has divorced his mother Lizzie has resettled thousands of miles away in the US. But Conor finds a most unlikely friend when one night at 12:07am a tree-like Monster (Liam Neeson) appears at his bedroom window, and proceeds to tell Conor that he has come to tell him three true stories, after which Conor must tell the Monster his own story - that of the truth behind his own nightmare. Ancient, wild, and relentless, the Monster takes Conor on a journey of courage, faith, and truth that powerfully fuses imagination and reality.

With just two new releases this week to tempt you out on a cold mid-Winter evening, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephiles afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-