Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

After Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, they acquired several franchises that they no doubt saw potential continuations for, and Planet of the Apes was certainly on their radar. Being a prolific franchise since the 1960s, and after the success of the reboot trilogy starring Andy Serkis in the 2010s, you can see the vision but given Disney’s track record of forcibly spewing out pointless and soulless retreads of once-popular IPs, it didn’t seem like there was anywhere else to go with this name. It also didn’t help that the person in charge of this new film was director, Wes Ball, whose rise-to-fame was directing the Maze Runner trilogy, which were never conceived as failures, but were seen as little more than trend-following popcorn flicks by critics and audiences, so there was a fair amount of doubt leading up to this film’s debut. Thankfully after it was released during the first quarter of 2024, those fears never really materialize. Set several generations after the death of Caesar, a tribal clan of apes live out their peaceful lives unaware of the legendary ape from the past. One member of the clan, an ape named Noa (played by Owen Teague) is preparing to take part in a coming-of-age ceremony, but those plans are halted by a group of raiding apes who slaughter in the name of Caesar burning his colony to the ground and taking all of them hostage (with only Noa managing to escape). Vowing revenge on the commander who led the attack, Sylva (played by Eka Darville), Noa travels into unknown territories in order to find his clan, coming across a virtuous orangutan named Raka (played by Peter Macon), who is the last of an order who follow Caesar’s true ideology, and a human scavenger later named Mae (played by Freya Allen), who has been trailing Noa since he left his tribe.  Forming a group despite Noa’s distrust of humans, the three find their way to a coastal encampment that is led by a self-proclaimed king named Proximus (played by Kevin Durand), who has kidnapped Noa’s tribe to use them to open a sealed vault which Proximus hopes will evolve him beyond what he is already. Wanting to free his tribe and believing that Mae is more intelligent than she is letting on, man and ape plan to work together in order to overthrow this false king and see what the future of this world could hold when not divided. Though the film doesn’t carry the same kind of emotional maturity or epic spectacle as the previous movies of either generation, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is still a solidly engaging film with likeable actors, fantastic effects, and a straightforward yet well told story.

Despite the brand for Planet of the Apes being at least half a century old at this point, it hasn’t fallen into the realms of repetitive cash-grab yet. While there have been a few duds (with one of the most notable being the 2001 Tim Burton film), most new film has been well received, each seemingly bringing something fresh and new to the series and therefore continually breathing life into its great premise. While the Serkis films were very analytical and had a harsher, more grounded and bleak perspective of this idea while still retaining a human centre (ironically through an Ape this time), this new film would’ve needed to show what would make its new corner special while still featuring a hint of the old identity since it exists in the same universe as said trilogy. The film handles this quite cleverly and doesn’t require the audience to view any previous movies in order to keep track of what’s going on. It definitely has a simpler framework and doesn’t contain any of the complex ideas, quandaries or dilemmas present in the other films, opting instead for a more emotion-driven ‘’heroes’ journey’’ narrative that still carries with it familiar lines and expected scenes, though not to the point of feeling like it’s force-feeding nostalgia. While this plot has been done several times over, it’s the new things added which make it feel new, and there are a few new things added in here. The script was written by Josh Friedman, whose work seems incredibly unreliable, as despite helping write and create Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, he also helped write the stories for Terminator: Dark Fate and Avatar: The Way of Water (two movies that are frustratingly repetitive of their previous films). In comparison to these examples, this movie is much better written, has better dialogue that doesn’t feel overly modern and annoyingly pandering, doesn’t feel like a retread of past events, and does come together in a stable fashion, but it’s hard to say it’s especially distinct. It’s certainly engaging and the additional scripting from Patrick Aison, as well as Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (who produced and help write the past Apes trilogy) surely helped make things smother, but anything new comes more from the performances and the worldbuilding rather than the screenplay. The only fresh idea is Caesar becoming this biblical figure of worship whose beliefs have either been entirely forgotten over the years or bastardized in a way that benefits the vicious rule of another. It’s done in a way that reflects how many religious ideologies are twisted in order to benefit the person in control and it is a great addition to this world, creating a situation where the apes and by extension, the humans aren’t all the same. Some groups speak differently than others, some have different viewpoints, and it all works to make this world feel more real and authentic. While the film for the most part paces its two and a half hour running time pretty nicely, the opening and final acts are a little wonky. The opening is slow and predictable, and the ending is a touch anti-climactic and not very fulfilling, but the rest of the film does keep your attention, and no part is truly awful to get through. While you can definitely feel the Maze Runner quality in the directing in certain parts, Wes Ball does a pretty decent job leading this film, allowing the visuals and emotive acting to get across a lot of information without needing to spell it out, keeping enough of a similar tone from the last film to not make it feel like an entirely new universe, and leaves the door open for a follow-up in a way that seems slightly interesting and doesn’t cheap out on what it had previously established with its characters.

After a character like Caesar stole the show for so many people, it would be interesting to see how the franchise would try and pick up the pieces after literally creating a world where he can no longer exist. For the most part, they do it well enough as although no character is extremely relatable or anywhere near as memorable or iconic, they work within this story and do have their standout moments thanks to solid acting and direction. While Noa is a very standard protagonist with a very standard outline and outcome, Owen Teague does a very good job making the character feel vulnerable, likeable and someone who is still growing and learning from his experiences, he’s a solid lead and most of his support isn’t too bad either. While characters like his mother, Dar (played by Sara Wiseman), his two best friends, Soona and Anaya (played by Lydia Peckham and Travis Jeffrey), and even a fellow surviving human named Trevathan (played by William H. Macy) are pretty perfunctory, the rest do a better job adding life to the world and the narrative. Peter Macon leaves a very strong impression as the character of Raka, having a voice and attitude that just shines through the effects and really sells the humble, yet staunchly believing figure. Freya Allen is also very good as Mae, containing an element of mystery that creates a fun dynamic between her, the audience, and the characters, which only gets better the more time goes on. While the connection between her and Noa is not delved into enough to make the eventual payoff feel as climatic as it should, it is still a fun dynamic that creates a situation where neither fully trusts the other and as things continue, that rift grows rather than shrinks. It is done in a way that is beneficial to both and is left open enough to explore things further. The villains are pretty effective and are played by charismatic actors, yet despite how much time they were given during the advertising, they feel a little under cooked. A lot of attention was given to the character of Proximus, and you can see why as he’s a great charming villain who is also deceptively intimidating, and Kevin Durand does really good at conveying all of these components, yet the audience isn’t given much time to get to know him as he only appears at the end of the halfway point, with most of that time being reserved for Eka Darville, who is also appropriately imposing and has an established connection with the lead, but is quickly forgotten about once Proximus comes into the picture. Both are given unsatisfactory endings as well, so it’s a shame that two legitimately decent threats weren’t given respectful conclusions.

The past trilogy was given massive praise for their incredible visual effects work on the Apes, creating a situation where these talking animals felt like real creatures that you legitimately felt were in front of the camera acting out these scenes, so there was this strong fear that after Disney acquired the rights and wanted to make their own movie, the quality would not be as strong. Thankfully, the film kept the same visual effects supervisor from the previous trilogy, Erik Winquist, to work on this movie, and because of that, it doesn’t feel like any sort of downgrade in the visuals, as these characters still look outstanding throughout the entire movie. While you can tell it’s an effect (especially when the characters do dramatic flips and tricks) the dialogue and emotional moments are really well done with incredibly good facial expressions and textures that genuinely feel real. It reaches a point where it doesn’t even phase the audience when no humans are on screen to compare with, and that is always the best sign of quality visual effects. The film is also home to some very solid worldbuilding and world construction, as while it does have a visual design that feels akin to other apocalypse settings where nature overtakes humanity and reflects that through foliage-covered buildings and such, it is presented in a way by cinematographer, Gyula Pados, that still feels cinematic and fresh. It makes this world feel lush and lively, and paired with the great effects both on the creatures and in the environments, it makes what is undoubtedly an effects-heavy feature still feel very believable and physical.

It’s great that Planet of the Apes can keep existing in modern day in a way that doesn’t just feel like it’s digging up an old corpse as it’s allowed to continue ‘’evolving’’ in a way that matches the times it’s created in but never loses the timeless quality that makes these movies so interesting and enjoyable. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes may not have some of the strengths that some of the previous films have had and doesn’t really raise the bar in terms of what can be done with this world of man versus ape, but it does still manage something emotionally resonant, visually pleasing, and cinematically effective. It has good characters, the effects are still incredible, the little touches added to an otherwise done-before story are nice, and even though it does lose a little bit of footing during the last act, it’d be nice to see what else could be explored within this specific period of this universe (as the final few minutes are actually pretty great and almost make up for the lacklustre climax).  Not perfect, but certainly more than many people probably thought it would be, this latest simian adventure is certainly worth your time.