Planet of the Apes is one of my favourite franchises, which is strange as it really is the rebooted series that got me into it, I have a strong love for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War as well. I watched all of those 3 films before watching the original, which again I love and the following sequels, which struggled to get to the heights of the film that kicked it all off. It’s an intriguing universe that never fails to deliver. When Disney bought 20th Century Fox, they confirmed that Planet of the Apes was a franchise that would be returning, without Matt Reeves in the directing chair, without Andy Serkis and Caesar wasn’t going to be an easy task to live up to the high bar set with the most recent instalments.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes takes place many generations after Caesar. Noa (Owen Teague) is an ape part of the Eagle tribe, when another tribe, led by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), are hunting for a human (Freya Allan) destroys the Eagle tribe’s camp. Noa learns the truth about apes and humans, as Proximus is desperate to get into a vault, and conquer his Kingdom.

Director, Wes Ball had a very difficult job following up from the visionary Matt Reeves, who really helped mould the franchise into the iconic trilogy that it became. Ball previously helmed The Maze Runner films, which are all consistently decent across all three entries. Ball has a background in visual effects, something that definitely would’ve helped in such a graphics-heavy film. He does a great job re-setting up this universe in the big time jump and seeing how far apes have come and how far humans have fallen.

The cast do a fantastic job; it always blows my mind how dedicated and seriously the actors take their roles as the apes in these films. I saw in an interview that anyone playing an ape went to prolonged training on how to transform into an ape, a high bar set by Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell in the previous trilogy. I was particularly sold on Kevin Durand and Owen Teague even before watching the film when I came across this interview on Good Morning America where you see the actors transform into their roles. I would love to see a cut of the film without the CGI, and I have no doubt I would enjoy it just as much.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the character of Raka, an Ortugutan who is part of the Order of Caesar, trying to keep Caesar’s memory and way of life alive. I wish the character had a bigger role, but a shout-out to Peter Macon’s performance, who again disappears into the role. Why is there only ever one Ortugutan? Give us more, they always end up being everyone’s favourite characters!

There’s some similarities in how I feel about this film, as I did to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, in that it’s a smaller story that just lights the fire that will continue this trilogy. I don’t love every decision made; I would happily just watch a film without the human aspect of it, but I like that the apes can’t decide what the human wants and whether she can be trusted. I’m interested to see where it goes, and I’ll be there every time for the next chapter in this film series.

Overall, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes continues to be one of my favourite franchises with another strong entry, it’s a consistent franchise that delivers some of the best VFX that cinema has to offer. I might not like every decision made in this film, but the performances and world set up the next phase of this story, and I can’t wait for the next instalment.

★★★★

What did you think of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes?

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