Nerdly » ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Review

09th May2024

‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Review

by Matthew Turner

Stars: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy, Travis Jeffery, Lydia Peckham, Dichen Lachman | Written by Josh Friedman | Directed by Wes Ball

Directed by Wes Ball (the Maze Runner movies), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the fourth film in the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise and the tenth Apes film overall, if you include Tim Burton’s 2001 version. The new film is set 300 years after the events of War of the Planet of the Apes (2017) and is clearly intended as the first instalment of a new trilogy, even if the marketing hasn’t shouted about that all too loudly.

After a short prelude depicting the ceremonial funeral of Caesar (the noble leader of the apes and the hero of the previous movies), a caption explains that a virus has all but wiped out mankind and apes are now the dominant species on Earth. The action then jumps forward “many generations later” (only the press notes say 300 years) and we’re introduced to a new group of apes, including young Noa (Owen Teague), whose father is the head of a peaceful clan who raise eagles, using them as both hunters (or more accurately, fish-gatherers) and protectors.

When Noa’s clan are attacked and enslaved by a horde of violent, armour-clad apes, he tracks them to a coastal settlement ruled over by fearsome bonobo Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), who has corrupted his namesake’s original teachings. Along the way, Noa encounters wise old orangutan Raka (Peter Macon), who enlightens him as to Caesar’s true legacy, and a mysterious human woman (Freya Allan) who’s being hunted by Proximus’ soldiers.

The previous trilogy distinguished itself with its world-class special effects work and the same is true here. Combining exceptional motion-capture technology (courtesy of Peter Jackson’s Weta FX company) with frankly extraordinary CGI, the apes are rendered with jaw-dropping detail throughout, conveying a full range of palpable emotion that is never less than utterly convincing.

Teague is particularly good in the lead, delivering a performance that is strongly reminiscent of Andy Serkis’ turn as Caesar (the mo-cap maestro was on board as a consultant this time round), radiating compassion and intelligence and exploring the intriguing idea that you don’t have to be human to possess humanity. Similarly, Allan is excellent, investing her character with hidden depths, and Durand makes a terrific bad guy as the crown-wearing bonobo with designs on speeding up ape evolution.

On top of that, it’s a treat to see William H. Macy pop up on screen again, after an absence of nearly ten years, as a human who’s made himself useful by teaching Proximus about human history. He’s not given nearly enough to do (some more exposition wouldn’t have gone amiss, particularly on his backstory), but he’s a welcome presence nonetheless.

Ball’s direction is impressive throughout – he orchestrates a number of thrilling action set-pieces and maintains an exciting pace, ensuring that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes never drags, despite its near two-and-a-half-hour running time. The world-building is also both striking and imaginative, a testament to both the production design and the CGI.

The fact that the franchise has now reached the point where the original 1968 film was set (a world ruled by talking apes, in the distant future) also allows for some nice visual references, even if we’re sadly denied the obvious one. Is it too much to hope that we’ll get that in future instalments?

The only problem with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is that the stakes are relatively low (at least when compared to the previous films) and the final scenes end up raising a number of questions that clearly won’t be answered until the next movie, which slightly hampers the overall impact. Still, this is an enjoyable and engaging entry in the ongoing Apes franchise and it will be fascinating to see where the series goes from here.