by Josh Sewell
Considering that director Matt Reeves and Andy Serkis wrapped up the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy with a perfect, yet heartbreaking ending, there wasn’t much of a reason to keep the franchise going. However, that’s typically not how the movie business works – if there’s still money to be made, studios have to keep cranking them out.
From that perspective, I’ll admit I was wary when I heard 20th Century Studios was making Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes without Reeves and set generations after Caesar (Serkis) died. Why would viewers be interested in this world without the primary reason they cared about it in the first place?
As it turns out, there are plenty of stories left to tell in a postapocalyptic America where apes are the dominant species, while the remaining humans mostly exist in the shadows. Credit goes to screenwriter Josh Friedman (Avatar: The Way of Water, War of the Worlds) and director Wes Ball (The Maze Runner trilogy) for crafting a compelling new protagonist and maintaining the high standard of visual effects established by their predecessors. If we were going to get a new Apes film regardless, it could’ve been so much worse (as anyone who remembers Tim Burton’s 2001 debacle can attest).
Following a brief prologue that bridges the old trilogy with this new tale, we fast-forward several decades, when ape clans have either forgotten Caesar or pervert his teachings for their own selfish motivations. (Sound familiar? Since its inception, the Apes franchise has always used its sci-fi trappings to address modern societal ills.)
Our new hero is the young Noa (Owen Teague), who is part of a tribe that trains eagles to help them with hunting and defense. While on a late-night excursion, he narrowly escapes capture when a rival ape clan destroys his village. Vowing to find and rescue his family, Noa embarks on a dangerous journey.
It’s one that brings Noa new allies, including an orangutan (Peter Macon) who introduces him to Caesar’s teachings and a young human (Freya Allan) with her own agenda, but also sets him on a collision course with a tyrannical ape leader (Kevin Durand) devoted to building his empire at all costs. The future of apes and humans alike will depend on who emerges victorious in the conflict.
Aside from having the prerequisite clunky title that plagues most of the franchise’s installments, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is far more entertaining, and more emotionally complex, than I expected. I’m surprised it exists in the current studio model of making lazy sequels or remakes that are primarily designed to further the brand as opposed to having something interesting to say.
As usual, the motion capture in these films (the miraculous technology that transforms human actors into photorealistic apes) is nothing short of jaw-dropping. In fact, in the years since 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes, they’ve somehow gotten even better. I don’t know how that’s even possible, but I’m certainly not complaining.
Performances are strong across the board, but Teague – one of the rare bright spots in the recent godawful remake of The Stand – and Durand deliver on a level that almost (but not quite) matches Serkis’ work. Allan and William H. Macy (inexplicably showing up for a few minutes) are compelling as the main human characters, but they’re not really the reason we show up for these movies.
The film wraps up the central conflict and charts Noa’s growth from anxious teen to brave leader, but – like the previous entries – ends in a place that teases more stories in the future. To my surprise, I hope Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes does well enough at the box office that we get those stories. Now that I’m invested in Noa and his compatriots, I’m curious to see what impact they have on this fascinating postapocalyptic world.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence/action. Opens in theaters on May 10.
Grade: B+
From that perspective, I’ll admit I was wary when I heard 20th Century Studios was making Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes without Reeves and set generations after Caesar (Serkis) died. Why would viewers be interested in this world without the primary reason they cared about it in the first place?
As it turns out, there are plenty of stories left to tell in a postapocalyptic America where apes are the dominant species, while the remaining humans mostly exist in the shadows. Credit goes to screenwriter Josh Friedman (Avatar: The Way of Water, War of the Worlds) and director Wes Ball (The Maze Runner trilogy) for crafting a compelling new protagonist and maintaining the high standard of visual effects established by their predecessors. If we were going to get a new Apes film regardless, it could’ve been so much worse (as anyone who remembers Tim Burton’s 2001 debacle can attest).
Following a brief prologue that bridges the old trilogy with this new tale, we fast-forward several decades, when ape clans have either forgotten Caesar or pervert his teachings for their own selfish motivations. (Sound familiar? Since its inception, the Apes franchise has always used its sci-fi trappings to address modern societal ills.)
Our new hero is the young Noa (Owen Teague), who is part of a tribe that trains eagles to help them with hunting and defense. While on a late-night excursion, he narrowly escapes capture when a rival ape clan destroys his village. Vowing to find and rescue his family, Noa embarks on a dangerous journey.
It’s one that brings Noa new allies, including an orangutan (Peter Macon) who introduces him to Caesar’s teachings and a young human (Freya Allan) with her own agenda, but also sets him on a collision course with a tyrannical ape leader (Kevin Durand) devoted to building his empire at all costs. The future of apes and humans alike will depend on who emerges victorious in the conflict.
Aside from having the prerequisite clunky title that plagues most of the franchise’s installments, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is far more entertaining, and more emotionally complex, than I expected. I’m surprised it exists in the current studio model of making lazy sequels or remakes that are primarily designed to further the brand as opposed to having something interesting to say.
As usual, the motion capture in these films (the miraculous technology that transforms human actors into photorealistic apes) is nothing short of jaw-dropping. In fact, in the years since 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes, they’ve somehow gotten even better. I don’t know how that’s even possible, but I’m certainly not complaining.
Performances are strong across the board, but Teague – one of the rare bright spots in the recent godawful remake of The Stand – and Durand deliver on a level that almost (but not quite) matches Serkis’ work. Allan and William H. Macy (inexplicably showing up for a few minutes) are compelling as the main human characters, but they’re not really the reason we show up for these movies.
The film wraps up the central conflict and charts Noa’s growth from anxious teen to brave leader, but – like the previous entries – ends in a place that teases more stories in the future. To my surprise, I hope Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes does well enough at the box office that we get those stories. Now that I’m invested in Noa and his compatriots, I’m curious to see what impact they have on this fascinating postapocalyptic world.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence/action. Opens in theaters on May 10.
Grade: B+
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com
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