This was discussed on one of the other threads but there was nothing inexplicable about it - he had contracted the virus, already gone mute and was going to lose his mind. Committing suicide was the last action he'd have control over...

Compromise: How about suicide by fighting to the death?

@The Midi-chlorian Count said:

This was discussed on one of the other threads but there was nothing inexplicable about it - he had contracted the virus, already gone mute and was going to lose his mind. Committing suicide was the last action he'd have control over...

Which scene showed he had the virus? I don't recall any evidence to support the claim he had the virus. And if he did have the virus (i assume you're alluding to the blood around his mouth?) - wow, how convenient it struck just as the helicopters attack! The other humans were attacking the base and he's lying in bed like a coward! Rather lame screenwriting, wasting the character!

The colonel and Caesar fighting to the death - perhaps a more fitting way to end the trilogy. The colonel's final line of dialogue is spoken as he attacks Caesar:

"No stinkin' ape will inherit the world!"

With respect to the screenwriters, I feel they underestimated the source material or played it too safe. This is a war and the colonel should have died fighting the war. If you set up a strong premise you should see it through to a fitting conclusion.

@fan_of_films said:

Which scene showed he had the virus? I don't recall any evidence to support the claim he had the virus. And if he did have the virus (i assume you're alluding to the blood around his mouth?) - wow, how convenient it struck just as the helicopters attack!

Here's that thread discussing this:-
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/281338-war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes/discuss/5969f32b92514136a800e0df

I thought it was a well played out arc with the Colonel. His war was against the other humans though which was really just a side story. It's not as if the apes were aligned with the other side either, so not sure what purpose an ending with humans vs humans (with the apes presumably scurrying off and leaving them to it) and the Colonel then dying would actually serve storywise?

@fan_of_films said:

@The Midi-chlorian Count said:

This was discussed on one of the other threads but there was nothing inexplicable about it - he had contracted the virus, already gone mute and was going to lose his mind. Committing suicide was the last action he'd have control over...

Which scene showed he had the virus? I don't recall any evidence to support the claim he had the virus. And if he did have the virus (i assume you're alluding to the blood around his mouth?) - wow, how convenient it struck just as the helicopters attack! The other humans were attacking the base and he's lying in bed like a coward! Rather lame screenwriting, wasting the character!

His suicide was actually very well explained. He had blood coming out of his nostrils and couldn't speak. The camera then pans over to the (infected) girl's doll, telling how he was infected. His entire reason for fighting the other humans was to get rid of the sickness, so therefore he had to kill himself to succeed. I agree that the character was somewhat wasted, but it wasn't as bad as you seem to believe.

But there was no sense of time between healthy colonel and unhealthy colonel! One scene he's healthy and the next he's unhealthy and suicidal. No gradual progression. Had we seen him directing his army and he starts coughing up blood, we'd get some idea the virus was taking its toil.

Anyway....the main issue is wasting the character. He deservered one final battle against Caesar. I reckon one of the basic rules of screenwriting is the villain should always battle the hero in the final act. The audience shouldn't be cheated out of such a scene. If this movie were called

Virus on the Planet of the Apes

...then fair enough, it's not unreasonable to expect the main villain to die from the virus but the title was "War for the Planet of the Apes" so let the colonel die in the field of conflict! All we got was some cowardly suicide which went felt at odds with the colonel's 'never surrender' mindset.

Real wars don't always end with some silly video game "hero battle"... I don't think they were going for the comic book aesthetic... You guys have seen too many marvel/DC/XMen movies...

Do you want a sequel where apes meet tranformer aliens?!

Have we lost the ability to appreciate any storytelling that doesn't conform to set rules and templates?

We should open our minds a little...

@fan_of_films said:

But there was no sense of time between healthy colonel and unhealthy colonel! One scene he's healthy and the next he's unhealthy and suicidal. No gradual progression.

You were supposed to be able to work it out for yourself from the moment earlier when the Colonel takes the doll from the holding pen...

As I said in the other thread I referenced above (if you are a fan of the series) you are also supposed to get a kick out of the doll nod as well at this point - in the original the talking "mama" doll reveals that humans had spoken, here the doll literally takes away the colonel's voice. It's a nice, clever piece of mirroring.

The Colonel's suicide is also important for us viewing Caesar's character - he is still hell-bent on revenge against the Colonel, even after the earlier cost of pursuing this. Yet, when push comes to shove, on seeing the Colonel's condition he chooses a path of compassion instead. So he's able to come back from that edge - having your comic book "showdown" were presumably you'd like him to have killed the Colonel takes that away, and destroys the whole development of Caesar's character that they built up over the entire trilogy.

@fan_of_films said:

Overall I enjoyed it but the scene where the colonel takes his life seemed a betrayal of what has been established. The two screenwriters set up the premise the colonel's sole purpose was to keep the human race continuing hence why he wanted a wall built to stop the other humans destroying his base.

Okay, so we get his motivation and then for some inexplicable reason we cut to him drunk and suicidal. He takes his life. Why? Made no sense given how strong and determined he was in all the earlier scenes!

A more appropriate ending might have been the colonel fighting to the death, refusing to surrender. That would be consistent with his chatacter. His death via suicide felt weak and not deserving of the main villain. What a waste of a character! 😕

I reckon the overall movie would have had greater impact had the colonel not taken his life.

He killed all who were infected, showing no mercy.... He had then become his own enemy. Only one way to go.... the movie sucked, but I can see why he went for a suicide after being infected himself.