Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Starring Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon
Directed by Wes Ball
Generations after Caesar's death, apes are split into clans and live in harmony with their world. Noa (Owen Teague) and his friends prepare for a coming-of-age ceremony for their Eagle Clan when Noa finds Mae (Freya Allan), a feral human they call "echos," and accidentally ruins his offering. He goes in search of another and finds a rival clan that finds their way to his home and destroys it, sending his people into slavery under the tyrannical rule of Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), who twists Caesar's words into making him the unquestioned leader as his army gathers ape slaves to get into a huge bunker that humanity left behind housing weapons and other technology to rule the ape world and eradicate any feral humans left. On his way to save his clan, Noa runs into Raka (Peter Macon), a Bornean orangutan who is one of the last followers of the true teachings of Caesar, and who teaches Noa as well. They welcome Mae, who's been following them, and learns that she's not a feral but actually intelligent and cognoscent of what's happening. Ultimately finding his way to Proximus's headquarters, Noa gathers his old friends together to get into the bunker before Proxmius does, and destroy it before he can get his hands on the weapons inside.
"Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" is a story that goes deeper than the generic good versus evil, but really delves into the deep aspects that the original film is known for. Can apes and humans exist side-by-side, or will one always seek dominance over the other? It's a quandary that resonates throughout the film's adventurous runtime without ever giving a clear, concise answer - and I love it all the more for that. It's not supposed to be a simple question, but one that'll take another trilogy to answer, and I am all for it. The storytelling, the acting, the effects, the cinematography - everything about this movie is pure magic, making its long runtime necessary to tell its story as well as get in some dazzling action sequences in-between.
The film does have a simplistic basis: a quest for revenge. Noa embarks on his journey to save his tribe from the tyrannical Proximus, and has no quarrels with killing his foe - until he runs into Raka, who teaches him the ways of Caesar: apes don't kill apes. He holds to this value (for the most part, as even Raka says humorously: "Caesar will forgive") and the film does a great job at making Caesar a new Christ-like figure, but for apes. An ape that sacrifices himself for the betterment of other apes, while teaching values of love, forgiveness, compassion and peace? Yep, sounds familiar to me.
But as I said earlier, there's an underlying tale interwoven throughout the proceedings about whether or not apes and humans can coexist, as Noa and the other apes think humans have gone totally feral after the virus unleashed by humanity turned apes intelligent and robbed humans of their thinking. Then he meets Mae and learns that she's not only intelligent, but has a task all her own: to find something in the vault that'll give humans the ability to speak again. Together, these two - with Noa's friends - embark on a perilous journey reminiscent of "Lord of the Rings" as they enter the vault to find the weapons and eliminate them before Proxmius gets his paws on them. To that end, the action sequences are dazzling and death-defying, filled with tension and excitement, and allows for the film to breathe as well during the quieter times with intellectual conversations and deep meditative thoughts.
Gyula Pados' cinematography offers both a sweeping naturalistic feel as well as exciting visuals during the action sets that makes for a cohesive whole, a film that never skimps on the visuals but also not on the practical as well. As Noa and company traverse the countryside, we're greeted with sweeping camerawork focusing on the nature around them as well as a former human world overtaken by nature as it should, and makes the vault itself look like a relic from old times.
Andy Serkis is the epitome of motion capture actors, having done so by playing Gollum in the aforementioned "LOTR" (as well as "The Hobbit" franchise) as well as Caesar in the last three films. His work is unparalleled, and I was apprehensive having another "Apes" movie without his involvement, but thankfully all the actors perform admirably in their motion-capture suits that gives the apes a surprisingly humanistic feel to them. Owen Teague and Kevin Durand specifically stand out in their protagonist and antagonist roles as they battle each other for the secrets in the vault, and both give differing views on ape-manity: Noa wants to protect apes, while Promixus wants to rule them, and it's a story reminiscent of the classic Roman Empire.
Defying the odds once again and proving that the apes are here to stay, "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" is a much-welcomed, much-surprised addition to this long-gestating franchise that offers compelling, thought-provoking situations that'll have you discussing long after the movie ends.
The Score: A+
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