In Pierre Boulle’s original 1963 Planet of the Apes novel, space traveler Ulysse Mérou becomes trapped on a terrifying planet where gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees have seized control, having acquired human language, culture, and technology by imitating their former masters. Unquestionably, chimpanzees on horseback, machine gun-wielding gorillas, and tutoring orangutans make spectacular theater, but could War for the Planet of the Apes happen in reality? This weekend, many of us will watch an army of retrovirus-modified apes wage brutal war against humanity.
