Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Review
Full disclosure: while I really enjoyed the last two entries in this rebooted Apes universe (Dawn and War), I wasn’t really a fan of Rise. I found that one a bit slow and underwhelming for my tastes. I didn’t hate it, but was kind of meh.
**NOTE: You can read Mark’s review below. then read Ryan’s review HERE, then use the link below to listen as they discuss the film (with a bonus discussion of A24’s I Saw the TV Glow, as well) and what it means in more depth. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
145 Minutes, Rated PG-13
Written by Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
Directed by Wes Ball
Synopsis:
Set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows.
As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
I figured Kingdom would continue the trend of better-than-average movies in the series, so I was, if not excited, then at least not unhappy to catch this screening.
Like any civilization, the Ape world has evolved over the generations, with the inherent tribalism of the various ape species leading to a disparate grouping of lifestyles and philosophies of existence.
When the peaceful, bird-raising, Chimpanzee village of Noa is attacked by the forces of Gorilla “King” Proximus, Noa must overcome great odds to rescue them.
But it’s not easy. Being followed by an “echo” (a human girl) and by an orangutan priest of Caesar’s teachings, Noa learns much about the world and himself that he had never considered before… not all of it good.
Director Wes Ball’s only previous feature directing credits are the three Maze Runner films, which aren’t bad, but aren’t exactly up to the level Matt Reeves had taken the Apes franchise over the last two films before leaving to lend a similar feel to The Batman for Warner Brothers.
But Ball is more than capable.
So when I say that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes did almost nothing for me, I want to stress that I don’t blame him. I think the script is where this one has gone wrong.
Yes, we have beautiful shots of a world long past man’s control of it, reclaimed by nature and the creatures who revel in it, that apes are still an incredible achievement in CGI/performance-capture, but the story is one that seems to have all the pieces, but that struggled, for me at least, to come together into a compelling narrative, slowing itself down needlessly for stretches of… nothing.
It’s long, it’s hushed (the only character who seems to ever speak above a whisper is Proximus), it’s slow…
Perhaps the reality of this slow pacing made the otherwise clever nods to both the original series of films (the haunting piano soundtrack totally took me back to Heston’s first foray into the madhouse of his Earth) and the reboots seem more out of place or less clever and more intrusive.
It’s a tough nut to crack. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is by no stretch a bad film — at all. It’s simply not a particularly compelling or interesting one.
The performances by Freya Allen and the voice actors are good, if not always bordering on sullen, and the surprise appearance by William H. Macy — a welcome addition to any film — winds up wasted instead of becoming what might have been an interesting narrative deviation. The fact he showed up so late in the film is a crime, actually.
In the end, not much is accomplished, save for generating the omni-present possibility of a sequel, which, if Kingdom can manage to make enough money in this unpredictable box office period, seems likely for such a venerable and respected IP.
I hope, if it happens, the sequel tries more, does more, means more, than Kingdom does.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters this Friday, May 10, and stars Owen Teague, Freya Allen, Peter Macon, Kevin Durand, and William H. Macy.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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