Product Info

Studio

20th Century Studios

Director

Wes Ball

Genre

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Rated

PG-13

Theatrical Release Date (NA)

May 10, 2024

Film Length

2hr 25min

Purchase From

As a fourth installment of The Planet of the Apes reboot series, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is an outstanding movie from the beginning to the end.

Civilization Evolves

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

The film begins with the funeral of Caesar, the leader of the apes in the past films, and then jumps to a time “several generations later”. Produced by 20th Century Studios and very well directed by Wes Ball (The Maze Runner trilogy), the apes have turned into a rather tribal species. This actually works well as a vehicle to explain how the chimps, gorillas, and orangutans find their place in the social order of ape society. This installment follows a chimp named Noa, played by Owen Teague (The Stand, It), and his orangutang friend Raka, played by Peter Macon (The Orville, Shelter in Solitude), who teaches Noa about the principles of ape life important to the original Caesar. These ideas all but lost through time aid Noa in this story to great effect.

Eagles and Apes Living Together

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Noa’s tribe bonds with eagles by finding eggs and bringing them back to the ape enclave to raise. These eagles are then trained to catch fish as food for the apes. While out on his egg hunt, a rite of passage for young apes, Noa is followed by a human girl named Mae, played by Freya Allen (The Witcher, Gunpowder Milkshake), who has found herself all alone after a tribe of gorillas raided her camp. Raka explains to Noa of Caesars’ compassion for humans, so Noa decides to feed and help her. Soon, a group of gorillas shows up to kill a pack of humans nearby and chase Mae as well. Discovering Mae can speak, Noa helps her escape, only to find his village has been sacked by the gorillas who have kidnapped his entire tribe. He tracks them back to the gorilla enclave where he sees his tribe being forced to work on opening the door to an old human bunker. The king of the gorillas is Proximus Caesar, played by Kevin Durand (Abigail, Legion), who believes he can use whatever human weapons and technology is in there for his own benefit. It’s not long before Noa and Mae get captured as well. Proximus calls this encampment his kingdom and is very impressed at how clever Noa is. He is certain Noa can figure out how to open that door.

What’s Behind Door Number 1

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Noa and Mae end up being held in a room with a talking human named Trevathan, played by William H. Macy (Fargo, Shameless), who seems to be well educated and therefore a big help to King Proximus. Trevathan makes gunpowder for Proximus in the hopes of helping open the bunker door. He also knows other things, like basic engineering. The balance of this film is full of action as Noa tries to free his tribe and stop Proximus from using anything inside the bunker. Mae, it seems, also has her own agenda for getting inside the bunker, though Noa never finds that out. She becomes quite pivotal in gaining entry to it and how to destroy it, but maybe not so much for the benefit of the apes.

Some Humans Can Still Talk

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

How the talking humans came to still be around after several generations never gets explained in this installment nor does how the humans live in this day and age get explored. Surely, there must be a reason for this—perhaps the next movie will tell that tale. There are also the odes to the original movie that are a constant through the reboot series. Keep an eye out for them as some are not as obvious as others.

The film’s soundtrack doesn’t hinder the film nor adds any extra juice. It does its job to keep the audience focused on the film on the events of Noa and team. The visual effects are spectacular, notably in the war between the apes. The camera angles are great, too, with the distant shots of Noa and team adventuring through the forest standing out in this regard. While there is a lot of computer-generated imagery (CGI), such as the ape actors wearing mo-cap suits, the studio did an excellent job with it. As a bonus, director Wes Ball tells YouTube channel Ape Nation that fans can watch the film without CGI.

The Final Kingdom

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is an outstanding film that continues the reboot series and prepares viewers for more to come.

An early screening provided for this film. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes arrives in theaters on May 10, 2024.