2024 Summer Movie Season - Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes: Review & Analysis

 

The New Age!!!! The latest Planet of The Apes Film Builds off What Came Before While Forging an Intriguing Path All Its Own!!!! 

Review By Brandon Porter

A kingdom is on the rise

Story Description

300 years after the planet-altering release of ALZ-113, the title of dominant species on earth has dramatically shifted to the apes while reverting humans to a primal state. During the time between the fall of Simien liberator Caesar and modern times, history is preserved and altered. A young hunter named Noa (Owen Teague) is torn between what he has been taught and what is actual fact as he is eager to learn more about a world he still has yet to understand the whole history of. When a feral young woman named Mae (Freya Allan), who has the shocking ability to speak, appears to Noa and his mentor Raka (Peter Macon) looking for asylum from bounty hunters under the command of a distant tyrannical dictator named Proximus Ceasar (Kevin Durand), Noa’s whole world view gets put in a tailspin. Now torn between his moral compass and loyalty to those like him, Noa must make a drastic decision that will define his future and the course of his world moving forward. 

Noa, Raka, and Mae confront the trials ahead of them

Film Review

Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes sees the continuation of this newly changed world through the eyes of new characters as they grapple with the legacy of a fallen hero 3 centuries prior. Maze Runner director Wes Ball leads the next generation in one of the year's must-see event films. After experiencing the newest chapter of the franchise, Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes continues the momentum of its 2010 predecessors while forging an intriguing story trajectory in its own right. The rebooted Planet of The Apes series, which began in 2011, reinvigorated the 50+-year-old franchise with its stellar performance capture technology, serious and grounded tone, and unforgettable characters. Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes builds on that by crafting a story that respects what came before while also setting the stage for some intriguing conflicts in this new section of the timeline. For starters, the movie's visuals are on point. Ball really captures the essence of this world in both the production design and visuals. His eye for detail shines through in both the cinematography and the vastness of each set piece. Everything we see on the screen tells us so much about what has transpired in between eras. However, it doesn't just come through in the locals. The characters themselves bring life to the world as well. That is a great segway into our performances. Owen Teague is rock solid as our lead protagonist Noa. It is a gargantuan order to follow the iconic shoes of Andy Serkis' Caesar. But Noa still manages to be a great character to follow. Teague captures the youthful essence of Noa as well as the conflict within him regarding how he should navigate a world that has opened up for him in a variety of ways. It will interesting to see how he advances in the ongoing narrative and how his arc will transform him moving forward. The same can be said for Freya Allen's Mae. I have to say, I came out feeling different about her than I originally thought I would. I saw her as someone of importance to the plot which she was. What I was not expecting was for her to come with such complexity near the story's end. All my assumptions about who she was were flipped on their head and in turn, she has now become an intriguing wild card regarding her relationship to the apes and her obligation to her own "clan". I look forward to seeing how her decisions and her relationships with the characters around her evolve or devolve as this arc progresses. 

A violent and mad king

The supporting cast was equally engaging with several standouts including Peter Macon's Raka offering a great balance of mentoring and humor and a fun antagonistic performance from Kevin Durand as Proximus Caesar. Durand chews up the scenery delivering a great balance of camp and menace. He was an effective villain despite his limited time on screen. Another of film's strengths is the large-scale world-building it does. The 2010 trilogy relatively took place in the Bay Area. This time, it feels like the world has truly opened up and offers us a chance to really see the extent of the world. Seeing new clans, cultures, and characters flesh out the identity of not just this new section of the timeline but the mindset of the characters within it. The thematic echoes of the previous trilogy are still felt with old familiar patterns resurfacing but with new story possibilities at the forefront. Kingdom sets up a story trajectory that is hard to predict but the directions it could go make for an exciting road ahead. All in all, Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes is a terrific follow-up to the 2010 trilogy. It creates an endless plethora of story possibilities that can drastically shape what comes next. It's an exciting prospect to consider when you're talking about a series that has somehow successfully reinvented itself in this new age of filmmaking and made this cinematic world established in 1968 a worthy investment both narratively and emotionally.  

Rating and Final Thoughts

An exciting chapter in the reinvigorated sci-fi saga. A worthy installment in the series
that builds off the momentum of the 2010 predecessors and creates exciting 
narrative possibilities moving forward.

A new era has begun for the apes. How will the planet evolve?