Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Review
“Are you familiar with the concept of evolution? In their time, humans were capable of many great things. They could fly, like eagles fly. They could speak across oceans. But now, it is our time... and it is my kingdom.” – Proximus Caesar
It’s always a good time when there’s a new Apes movie in the multiplex, I’ve followed the franchise since the sixties and this is, with a few reservations, no exception. But seriously, what’s with the stupidly long and unwieldy title? Kingdom OF the Planet OF the Apes? If I was going to be picky, I’d point out that maybe grammatically, Kingdom ON the Planet of the Apes would make better sense. Kingdom of the Apes would make even better sense, and would be a snappier, more elegant title. Surely we’re not so dumb as to have to have the whole Planet of the Apes title rammed in there as well, for fear we won’t know it’s an Apes film? Not when there’re have already been 9 previous Apes movies, a TV series and an animated series since 1968. (Ah, the human race. We never fail to disappoint. Maybe we’d be better off under Ape rule.)
Anyhow, I had done my homework. It had been several years since I had revisited the more recent trilogy, comprising of Rise, Dawn and War for the Planet of the Apes, so those discs had been rewatched to refresh my memory and get into the spirit. I had forgotten how visually stunning they were and how strong the scripts were. But that trilogy was rounded off and completed. The trailer for Kingdom gave a glimpse of something that gave a vague hint of being closer to the original Planet of the Apes with humans under Ape subjugation and being hunted. The world that Taylor (Charlton Heston) found himself stranded on in the 1968 film.
It is, in a way – but that isn’t the story. We are several generations away from the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, and the human race have de-evolved even further as a result of the disease shown in the earlier trilogy, while the Apes have advanced. But with this advancement has come a tribalism. Whereas Caesar had set down laws that Apes were stronger together, and Ape shall not kill Ape, which idealistically made the Apes a nobler species, worthier of being the dominant species, having risen above the kind of hubris that the humans are always prone to, they have become more tribal. A handful of generations after the benevolence and equality of Caesar’s teachings, Apes are happy to quote him, but apply the meaning and intentions of those teachings to suit themselves. Pretty much as humans do.
That’s the concept – and as a concept it’s remarkably strong, and well executed. It’s a bold and imaginative step forward into a new trilogy. And it’s a step that was needed if the franchise is to continue, because we can’t really remake the original again in this continuity, the shock ending that this is Earth all along won’t work because we’ve known that since Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Plus, and let’s be brutally honest here, other than a nightmarish role reversal, Tim Burton’s 2001 remake was pretty redundant, especially the Lincoln Memorial ending. (As Steve remarked at the time, Ape-raham Lincoln.)
So yes, although humans are rounded up, captured in the wild and herded into slavery, Ape tribes also pillage, massacre and enslave other Ape tribes, showing that power does indeed corrupt. (Where’s Doctor Zaius when we need him?)
The plot follows a young ape named Noa, from a tribe who practice falconry. He’s on a mission to locate and rescue his tribe and family whose village has been destroyed and are now in the clutches of a self-proclaimed ruler, gorilla calling himself Proximus Caesar who’s amassing an army of slaves to gain access to a vault, which contains something he needs. But it may not be what he’s expecting. Everything comes with a price.
I am in no way denigrating the make-up effects of the first run of five films started 56 years ago, they were absolutely amazing back then, and still hold up today and I have nothing but respect for makeup artist John Chambers for his iconic creations back then, but the CGI effects in this contemporary run of movies is nothing short of sheer visual perfection. On Kingdom, we are seeing literally Avatar level effects. They are flawless. I thought that I’d miss Matt Reeves’s direction from the previous trilogy more that I actually did. New director Wes Ball from the Maze Runner trilogy does a great job of taking the Apes in a new direction.
I do however have not so much a criticism, but an observation. This is the first film in a new trilogy, and the first films always have a common problem and this is no exception. A story has to start somewhere, and this is no exception. But it also has to set the scene and make you want to come back for the next instalments. So, visually perfect though it is, and it’s pretty much self-contained, it can work as a standalone movie, by necessity, it has to raise some questions that will be answered in future movies. And that’s certainly the case here, we have some unresolved matters, and more questions than answers. But I’m sold. I’ll be back because I want those answers.
As for the rating. I’ve taken a few days to allow this movie to bed in properly. That was a wise move because when I was driving home from the multiplex, I was thinking a point lower. I’ve since come to my senses and raised it one point. When in future I see the whole three movie picture, I’d expect that rating to go up by another notch.
Rob Rating = 7