Review - Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and I just went to see the new movie Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, directed by Maze Runner director Wes Ball, and starring Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, William H. Macy, and Peter Macon. 

       So, it's been many generations since the time of Caesar, and the ape civilization has grown extensively. The leader of the apes calls himself Proximus Caesar, and makes it a mission of ape kind to assert their dominance by hunting humans. It's here where we meet the likes of Noa and Raka, who work together to protect a young human woman named Mae, who is a human capable of speaking. 

       Now, something that makes this movie work so well is the way we see how much the world has changed from the time of Caesar. For instance, while there are ruined remains of buildings and human architecture, they're mostly grown over with trees and plant life. I like how, while it looks like nature has healed and begun overtaking what remains of human civilization, there's still signs of humanity left and that's always neat in my mind. Also, I liked how we see the evolution of ape society and how different it is from the burgeoning culture we saw in previous outings like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes. And, while ape society has grown from that, it's not quite the complex society that was introduced in the 1968 classic Planet of the Apes with Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall. Ape society in this movie is somewhere in the middle. 

       The performances by the ape actors is really stellar, aided immensely by the second-to-none visual effects work done by Wētā FX. Owen Teague absolutely shines as Noa, whose quest to rescue his ape clan takes him on a journey that is really eye opening for him. Kevin Durand gives a very strong performance as the villainous Proximus Caesar, who despite carrying Caesar's name, has twisted the teachings of Caesar to meet his own goals, and acts as someone whose worldview is somewhere between that of Caesar and that of Koba. One other ape that stands out is Raka, played by Peter Macon. Unlike those who are loyal to Proximus, Raka still follows the true teachings of Caesar, and teaches them to Noa, which is pretty neat. Other apes like Lydia Peckham as Soona, Travis Jeffrey as Anaya, Sara Wiseman as Dar, Eka Darville as Sonya, and Neil Sandilands as Koro are all really good, as well. 

       Now, when it comes to the human characters, we do see a clan of primitive and primal humans, obviously devolved because of the effects of the ALZ-113 virus. However, we do see a couple of humans still capable of complex human speech. The two we see the most throughout the movie are Mae, played by Freya Allan, and Trevathan, played by William H. Macy. Now, both Freya Allan and William H. Macy give fantastic performances as two humans who have opposite beliefs. While Mae believes that there is a chance that humanity can restore its place in the world, Trevathan has given up such notions and accepted the new status quo where apes rule. There is more to the human story than just that of Mae and Trevathan, but I don't want to get too deep into spoilers. 

       Now, while the overall world, and the performances, were easy strong points in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the overall plot is a bit more complex to describe. It starts off simple, establishing the world many generations after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, but adda more layers as it progresses. Had we maybe seen something like a feudal ape society with multiple clans of apes in conflict with each other, that could have been something interesting. But, adding in this plot thread involving humans attempting to rebuild, as well, it just makes things seem more complicated than they needed to be. However, where this all comes to a head is involving a massive vault that Proximus wants into. Again, not going to spoil too much, but let's just say that the mystery of the vault plays a big part in the film's third act. 

      Overall, I really had a great time with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. I love the look that director Wes Ball gave this movie, and I now am more eager to see what he brings to the upcoming Legend of Zelda movie he's set to direct. For now, though, I'm giving Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes  a rating of 4.35/5. Head out to your local theater and check it out. 

      Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll be back with my next review really soon.