'KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES' (2024) REVIEW

Planet of the Apes returns to the big screen with the film 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'. It becomes apparent that the franchise is heading towards a sequel trilogy after the commercial success of the reboot series.

The film was expected to be as successful as Andy Serkis' Apes films and it sure delivers - both visually and narratively. It may not be a strong comeback to the Caesar trilogy however the film manages to portray its characters in the same way and the storyline flows through. Andy Serkis' performance as the character 'Caesar' was on an Academy Award level of acting, that newcomer Owen Teague's portrayal of new lead protagonist 'Noa' was not expected to do any better. You could not name anyone else who could portray Caesar or any other ape better than Andy Serkis. Serkis' performance as Caesar was so perfect that he raised the bar too high for newcomers to surpass and this may come as a warning to newcomers that it may be nearly impossible to do a better performance than Andy. However, Owen Teague as Noa is still commendable. Teague mentioned in many interviews that he studied apes for a week before going to Ape school to learn how to replicate the same behaviour and body movement of an ape. He also mentioned speaking to Andy via video call to get ready to play an ape before shooting the film. Kevin Durand who plays Proximus Caesar follows the same route as Teague before portraying the villain of the film. It may just be that the film did so well because of the actors' dedication to their craft. It reminds me of Serkis' ambition to portray Caesar as accurately as possible. Andy Serkis studied apes and embodied the movement and behaviour of apes that, as an audience, we believed Caesar to be real. It may be also due to Andy being very well acquainted with such roles, having portrayed characters like Gollum in the 'Lord of the Rings' franchise and King Kong.

Rise, Dawn, and War were successful in telling Caesar's story. From beginning till the end, Caesar went through the best character development in the series and maybe in film history. Caesar's story was able to captivate the audience's attention which is remarkable considering that he is only an ape. Matt Reeves who directed Dawn and War was able to showcase Caesar to his full potential as the lead character; this was topped with the dark tone and beautiful visuals of the two films.

With all this in mind, Owen Teague now has a legacy to uphold and he sure delivers; having little to no experience in the world of motion capture performance as well as big blockbuster action films. Teague's portrayal of Noa reminds the audience of how young Caesar was in 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' (2011).

The film takes place on Earth in a distant future where Apes are the dominant species whilst humans are in the minority. We follow the main character, Noa, who is navigating life as a young male chimpanzee and as the next leader of his ape clan, the falconry ape clan. His village is set on fire and he helplessly witnesses half of his clan die within the fire, including his father, whilst the other half are captured by an enemy clan of apes who carry electric weapons. Throughout the film, we see Noa learning about the past and when he meets a feral human whom the apes would call Nova; Noa soon enough learns more about the human species especially after when he discovers that Nova's name is actually Mae and she can speak, just like apes. Noa seeks for his tribe and hopes to reunite with them. This happens once he is captured by the enemy clan; they bring him to a self-proclaimed Caesar, Proximus Caesar, who has his own desires for the future of the ape world.

SPOILER: The climax is when Noa teams up with Mae to stop Proximus Caesar by retrieving a device that could unlock a vault holding secrets to gaining power. Though it was not explicitly mentioned, we can assume that the technology within the vault was weapons of mass destructions.

Proximus Caesar is defeated in the end by Noa with the help of his eagle and the villain is supposedly dead as he falls off a cliff.

Though the movie was really good; it was not better than the first three films of the series. I highly rate Matt Reeves's vision and his storytelling. His direction of storytelling suits my style of movies; he focuses a lot on character-driven narratives, and putting characters in emotional and intense situations. Wes Ball also has character-driven narratives as we see his vision through the main protagonist, Noa. Noa is different at the end of the film compared to the start of the film; he seems to be a lot wiser and is becoming the leader he was destined to be. I did not receive the same emotional or intense performance storytelling to that of Matt Reeves but we did get a lot more action-packed sequence. This reminds me of his previous work on 'The Maze Runner' (2014). It seems that Wes Ball's style is within his action sequences which is perfectly fine. The movie still did well. The action does not take away from Noa's character development, if anything, it enhances him in his journey of becoming a fierce warrior and leader.

I have to mention the continuous use of motion capture performance in the Apes series which gets better and better each film. The crew discover new ways of filmmaking and capturing performance in different elements. We see the use of mo-cap being used in water for 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' (2014) and then in snow for 'War for the Planet of the Apes' (2017). The visuals are groundbreaking; the apes look hyper-realistic and this aspect gets better each film. Not only does the story improves but so does the visuals. The first thing I notice about 'Kingdom' is the breathtaking sceneries. There's so much lore behind the environments we see in the film. The film captures the mise-en-scène of a post-apocalyptic world with skyscrapers covered in vines and forests growing around. We get to see the world slowly transforming into the Planet of the Apes.

Another aspect about the film that is worth mentioning is the callback to the original 'Planet of the Apes' (1968). We can assume that the timeline in this film is closer to the original film as we see the apes hunting for humans. There are tons of callbacks to the infamous 'Caesar' who acts as some sort of a religious figure to the apes. This is endearing to see the impact Caesar had in the story but, also, a touching tribute for the audience as he was the reason why the films are beloved.

The film is, overall, a fine addition to the franchise. It continues the apes story without destroying the legacy of Caesar. Just like Andy Serkis, I believe Owen Teague will portray another memorable and fan-loved character.

IMDb rating: 6.9/10

My rating: 7.8/10

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Read up on my blog about the 'Planet of the Apes' franchise: 'PLANET OF THE APES' FILMS FRANCHISE

Other posts in the works:

👉Netflix 2024

👉Cinema Releases 2024

Sabina 🦁