Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Review
Caesar may be long dead, but there’s still a lot of life in these apes.
Updated:
May 8, 2024 3:21 pm
Posted:
May 8, 2024 3:20 pm
Letâs just say it up front: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes doesnât match the considerable heights of Matt Reevesâ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes. Director Wes Ball does a commendable job maintaining the atmosphere and empathetic approach established by Reeves (and Rupert Wyatt before him, in Rise of the Planet of the Apes), but Kingdom isnât operating at quite the same dark and tragic tone as those films. Nonetheless, itâs still pretty damn great on its own.
To be clear, there are stakes and loss and ever present danger, and thatâs great, but this is a bit more of a road movie and adventure story. Set hundreds of years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom follows a chimpanzee named Noa (Owen Teague) as he sets out to rescue his clan from the aspiring ape tyrant Proxima (Kevin Durand). Ball works well in the arena of tense action sequences, and he shows a deft hand with character interaction. Noaâs quest alongside the orangutan Raka (Peter Macon) and the human they dub Nova (Freya Allan, playing a character whose name now has double meaning to Apes fans) provides plenty of reasons to be optimistic about Ballâs upcoming Legend of Zelda movie.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes GalleryNoa isn’t as layered as the previous trilogyâs protagonist, Caesar, and he goes on a more straightforward heroâs journey here. Still, heâs a likable and easy to root for, and Teague is quite good in the role, conveying the characterâs suspicions and eagerness to make sense of the ominous stories heâs heard about humans (or âechosâ as his clan calls them) and the actual human heâs now traveling with. Allan does a lot with whatâs initially a fairly reactive role, and Macon is terrific as the warm and kind Raka. He’s doing his best to carry on the teachings of Caesar all these centuries later, even as Proxima perverts the ape revolutionaryâs message to justify his violent actions. (Mere weeks after his wonderful comic turn in Abigail came to theaters, Durand is perfect as the self-assured and ever-threatening Proxima.)
Screenwriter Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) has some clever tricks up his sleeve: Our first impressions of Kingdomâs characters can be deceiving, and Noaâs sense of his world is frequently tested with new and conflicting information. His limited knowledge of how things worked before he was born makes a strong throughline, and makes great use of Daniel T. Dorranceâs modern-structures-reclaimed-by-nature production design. This includes an exciting third rooted in Proximaâs true goal, along with some obvious sequel setup whose unanswered questions manage to elicit curiosity rather than frustration. Thereâs also a nice touch of worldbuilding in the significance eagles have to Noaâs clan â theyâre not called the Eagle Clan for nothing! â and how those birds figure into the story. We donât get all the details about how these practices came to be, nor do we need to â itâs all presented in immersive and genuine fashion.
An opening scene that makes a gratuitous attempt to link Kingdom to its predecessors misses the mark â itâs unnecessary, and doesnât really pay off. Similarly inessential is a second human character, played by William H. Macy, who we meet as the film goes on. He’s a distraction, presenting a perspective that could have been included in a different and more succinct manner.
Overall though, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a worthy continuation of a series thatâs now 10 films strong and more than 50 years old. The geniuses at WÄtÄ continue to work new marvels in bringing digital apes to life, aided in no small part by the talented cast and the highly physical on-set work they do in motion-capture suits. These are fully believable characters who look realistic and completely plausible mimicking the actions of humans. The details on the apes are simply incredible, from the depth and emotion in their eyes to the spit you can see in their mouths.
VerdictKingdom of the Planet of the Apes Itâs not as emotionally complex as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes or War for the Planet of the Apes, and isnât attempting to punch you in the gut like those films do. But as this series enters its post-Caesar, Disney-owned era, Planet of the Apes is still on remarkably solid footing. Advancing the timeline is a smart move, allowing director Wes Ball to depict a dramatically changed world while screenwriter Josh Friedman shifts gears into an appealing adventure mode. This is a different Planet of the Apes, but it still feels like it fits in with what came before.
great
Caesar may be long dead, but Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes proves there’s still a lot of life in these primates.
Eric Goldman