Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Movie Review
Director: Wes Ball (The Maze Runner)
Writer: Josh Friedman (Screenplay)
Writer: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver (Characters)
Cast
- Freya Allan (Baghead)
- Kevin Durand (I Am Number Four)
- Owen Teague (IT Chapter One)
- William H Macy (Boogie Nights)
- Peter Macon (The Orville)
Plot: Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he’s been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
Runtime: 2 Hours 25 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes starts many generations after Caesar’s story. We meet an Eagle community of apes, with young Noa (Teague) preparing his right of passage and connection to his eagle. However, as a surprise outsider group of apes takes everything from him.
Noa goes on a journey and meets Raka (Macon) who teaches him about Caesar and a human Mae (Allan). The three journey together to Proximus Caesar (Durand), a ruler building a kingdom. However, Noa must learn who he should trust in this world to get his clan back.
Verdict on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the latest installment of the franchise. For the first time, we enter the world without Caesar and jump forward a few generations, where most have forgotten his teachings. A young ape goes in search of his clan and learns the original ways, as he learns more about becoming the leader he is destined to become.
This movie faced the biggest challenge for the franchise to date, a proper time jump. There is no Caesar and now the world is dominated more by apes than ever in the franchise. Communities have been set up where our main one lives in peace and harmony. This change is achieved brilliantly and shows the scale of the transformation in the world.
The story does feel like ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ again, where this time Noa has his clan taken and looks to rescue them. While it does focus on apes versus apes, the human mentality for power starts to take over. There are a few subplots going on too, but the core one is similar and does work for Caesar’s belief.
As for the whole franchise, the motion capture is amazing and when people talk about people in films deserving awards. It must be the team involved here to create what feels like flawless transportation to a planet of the apes. In the end, we get another amazing addition to the franchise.
Final Thoughts – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a welcome addition to the juggernaut of a franchise.
