Rent Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (aka Planet of the Apes Ride) review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

The Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy was a stellar work of bringing groundbreaking visual effects and deeper storytelling to the decayed sci-fi franchise. I was skeptical of how much more could be evoked from the continuing story, considering how neatly Matt Reeves wrapped up the saga with War for the Planet of the Apes. The good news is that director Wes Ball finds something just as unique to explore in this sequel set hundreds of years after the last film. Although posed more like the start of a new trilogy, it feels more like a natural progression of this material.

The film becomes instantly fascinating because of the massive time jump between the last film. The apes of Earth have evolved but also splintered into their villages. Noa (Owen Teague) is a tribe member who raises birds for everything from food retrieval to rites of passage. They speak with a surprisingly limited vocabulary and reliance on sign language, considering they’ve had 300 years to evolve. But that’s the most unique aspect of the film. As Noa soon learns more about the world, we also learn how much of history has decayed and distorted, approached with profound intrigue and charming absurdity.

There are apes in this world who can still recall the days of the teaching of the tragic hero Caesar, as with the astute Raka (Peter Macon). Some apes use Caesar’s name for power and cruelty, as with the manipulative monarch Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), ruling with an iron fist. These presences and their philosophies expand Noa’s mind to such a degree that he’s forced to learn more about the world beyond his village. Further challenging his perspective is the unexpected arrival of the human girl Mae (Freya Allan). You can probably imagine how many fireworks explode in Noa’s head when he peers into a telescope for the first time.

The visual effects of the CGI-rendered apes are just as convincing and thrilling as the past three Apes movies. For a film with the majority of the shots centering around cavorting apes, the attention to detail and expression makes the film just as immersive as Avatar, where the uncanny valley feels hundreds of miles in the distance. Every scene, from Noa’s defense of his burning village to the tearful embrace of reunited apes, carries an engrossing weight. The lavish cinematography also adds to the wonder of this post-civilization world, where lush green grows over old structures and a sandy beach of washed-up and rusted ships becomes a stronghold for the apes.

Aside from the stellar visuals, there’s also just enough to explore with the continuing material. The highlight of shifting history is compelling, but additional angles are graced of questioning progress, disputing dark legacies, and coming to terms with humanity versus nature. These are compelling notions that Noa slowly discovers, and he finds himself conflicted about whom to trust. Lest the film be reduced to a debate on existentialism, there is a more immediate plot of Noa saving his tribe and preventing Proximus Caesar from getting his hands on more advanced weapons to pervert the influence of the previous Caesar further.

For those hoping for more of the dark and intriguing filmmaking present in the past Apes movies, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes does not disappoint. It delivers on everything audiences have come to expect from the saga and finds just enough new stuff to explore. Even though it seems to be treading on familiar ground in how this film feels like the bridge between the original and reboot storylines, there’s as much for the mind as for the eyes in this dazzling epic. With this being the franchise's fourth film, it looks as though the 21st-century Apes movies continue to progress in VFX and storytelling. It’s such a good feeling to have that CGI cake and eat it, too, where there’s more to this monkey movie than the allure of watching the primates ride horses and speak English.