A One Mann’s Movies review of “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (2024).
I always thought it would be a good pub trivia question: name the films in the latest Planet of the Apes trilogy in the right order. Many would probably correctly name “Rise of…”, “Dawn of…” and “War for…” but would they get them in the right order? To me, “Dawn” intuitively comes before “Rise” so I would probably get that wrong! Here then comes “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”: the 4th in the trilogy of “new” films and the 10th in the overall PotA franchise. I really rated the earlier films in this rebooted series and was worried that this episode would be a monkey too far. But my fears were thankfully unfounded.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Many generations after the death of Caesar, his legacy lives on and he has achieved almost Messianic status. But all of this is unknown to the treetop living and eagle-loving tribe that Noa (Owen Teague) lives with. But their world is about to be turned upside down when they come into contact with both a young girl ‘echo’ (human) called Mae (Freya Allan) and an all conquering gorilla called Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand).
Certification:
UK: 12; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate violence, threat, injury detail”).
Talent:
Starring: Freya Allan, Owen Teague, William H Macy, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon.
Directed by: Wes Ball.
Written by: Josh Friedman. (Based on characters created by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver.)
Twitter Handle: #KingdomOfThePlanetOfTheApes.
Running Time: 2h 25m.
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” Summary:
Positives:
- A great introduction to new characters that you immediately get behind and support.
- Stunning CGI visualisation of the apes (as in all of this series).
- Exciting action sequences.
- Great score by John Paesano.
Negatives:
- Muddled narrative for the Optimus / Mae / Noa motives and interactions
- The “several generations” of humans seemed to have remained rather too advanced!
- I had an issue with sea level!
Review of “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”:
Great monkey business
The world-building that goes into these films must be fun to realise in special effects. Here, although we start immediately after “War of the Planet of the Apes” with Caesar’s funeral, we immediately skip forward a number of generations to a later time. That Coke lorry in the woods will have well and truly rotted away and all the human architectural (or indeed maritime) remains are also well on their way.
Against that backdrop, I really liked the way that the new leading characters – three ‘teenage’ chimps – are introduced. They are shown stealing eagle eggs, necessary for them to then protect and nurture until an upcoming “coming of age” ceremony in the village. (I’m waiting for the – justifiable – outcry from the RSPB/Audubon society regarding this activity… even if the ape-law dictates that they “always leave one”). After this mini-adventure, you feel well engaged with the three chimps and, after his dramatic raid on the “top nest”, particularly so with Noa (Owen Teague).
Astonishing Visuals and Great Acting
One of the terrific legacies that this film perpetuates is the remarkable CGI where the emotions of the apes are fully reflected on screen. Thinking back to the latex masks of the original film, it’s another world! (It’s a shame that the original chimp Roddy McDowall, who died in 1998, isn’t around still to admire the progress.) The effects really allow the characters to act, and they do. You feel their fear, their grief and their elation.
As important as the visuals is the dialogue and a particular shout-out in this regard should go to Peter Macon who plays the wise and kindly ‘disciple’ Raka. His voice is like liquid chocolate and I could listen to it all day.
The human acting contingent largely consists of Freya Allan (who impressed me in the otherwise pretty dreadful “Baghead“) and a small role by the great William H. Macy. Allan, who again is good here in a more action-oriented role, reminded me strongly of Louise Jameson’s portrayal of “Leela” in the Tom Baker era of Doctor Who: the mere thought of which will be enough to get the juices of most heterosexual males my age flowing!!
Exciting Action Sequences
All of the action sequences are well choreographed and exciting. It says something that this film is close to two and a half hours long, but it really didn’t feel that long to me. A final battle is very ‘watery’ and I did have an issue with sea level apparently continuing to rise incessantly during the scene! Global warming must still be a thing then despite human industry’s demise!
The religious angle
I really liked the way that Caesar’s reputation over many years had risen to be ‘God-like’ in that he had disciples (like Rafa) who followed his teachings and spoke his words. A really nice touch is that Caesar’s ‘symbol’ is the shape of his original attic window (from “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”): this is scrawled on the wall at Caesar’s funeral and on the pendant that Rafa wears and passes down to followers.
Cracking Soundtrack
The soundtrack is by a composer new to me – John Paesano – and I greatly enjoyed it. Although utilising themes from the original film (Jerry Goldsmith) and the earlier trilogy (Michael Giacchino), the score also had a life of its own with some great action cues and some impressive choral elements. One that’s heading for my Spotify playlist.
Muddied Narrative
Although I really enjoyed the film, I was lost as to the reason that Noa’s tribe; Optimus’s tribe and Mae were thrown together. Who was looking for who? Or was it just supposed to be coincidence? I was unclear.
Also, Mae is after a particular ‘McGuffin’, but how or why she should know where it was and how to access it is left extremely unclear. And a find scene (where the McGuffin is used) rather beggars belief!
Monkey?
Pardon the pun, but there is no “monkey” at the end of the credits. There is just an audio growl of a great ape: perhaps implying that Optimus Caesar might return in the next film?
Summary Thoughts on “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
I thought this was a really cracking adventure film, brilliantly realised and well-paced. Kevin Maher in “The Times” descibed it as “bland, lazy and kind of gross” and gave it 2 stars. I think he must have watched a different film.
You don’t really need to have seen the previous trilogy to enjoy this one. But in my view this is a worthy successor film to the original series and I commend it to the house.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtFI7SNtVpY .
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