Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Several generations in the future following Caesar's reign, apes are now the dominant species and live harmoniously while 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.

  • Released: 2024-05-22
  • Runtime: 145 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Adventure
  • Stars: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Peter Macon, Kevin Durand, Eka Darville, Travis Jeffery, Neil Sandilands, Sara Wiseman, Ras-Samuel Welda'abzgi, Lydia Peckham, William H. Macy, Dichen Lachman
  • Director: Wes Ball
 Comments
  • DLochner - 28 June 2024
    A Visually Stunning Adventure
    The movie offers solid entertainment with deep character development and an engaging, long adventure story. In the age of TV series, drawing people to the cinema is challenging. The film has its flaws-plot holes, lengthy dialogues-but with a runtime of over two hours, breathtaking animation, and the effort to blend rich characters with action, it's worth seeing.

    The impressive visual effects are a highlight, making the apes incredibly lifelike and immersing the viewer in the film's world. The detail and emotions captured through motion-capture technology are remarkable, helping the audience connect with the characters.

    As the start of a hoped-for new trilogy, "Planet of the Apes: New Kingdom" is a successful reboot. However it needs more depth. The earlier films were known for posing philosophical questions and addressing societal themes. I hope future installments uphold or surpass this standard.

    The film offers enough excitement and visual splendor to captivate both fans and newcomers. The return to the big screen is worth it for the stunning visuals and epic storytelling. Despite some narrative weaknesses, "New Kingdom" is an adventure not to be missed.
  • Junreviews - 19 June 2024
    Solid movie that could have been much better
    Creating a series of franchise over more than a decade is challenging as it requires consistency, improvement, and adaption. The planet of the Apes -- the long-standing battle between the apes with intelligence and the humans who are on the verge of extinction -- is intriguing and simple enough to entertain a new audience who even haven't watched the previous movies.

    To be warned that this film is not so much about the fight between humans and apes, but it dives into the conflict among the apes each other. The great aspect of the movie is that it takes time to develop both characters and story in detail without rushing it to the climax, which has become a common miscue in most of the movies nowadays.

    Also the usage of CGI is moderate as it showcases diverse breathtaking sceneries with different camera angle. The agile and stealth movements of the apes are captured using the finest motion capture technology along with a minimal usage of dialogues through various facial expressions that are used to convey the message and clear voices from the actors. There are many nerve-wrecking scenes and the one-on-one fight scene between the giant gorilla, Raka and the protagonist, Noa is worth watching.

    To talk about the flaws, there were some scenes that could have been better by making them more realistic and convincing. When the malicious apes capture humans in the forest, they don't show where they take them or what they do with them, which leaves the audience curious. Also the female protagonist, Nova -- who ends up being locked without any sorts of cuffs -- escaping through the opened crack in the worn-out vessel seems sloppy. Another part is when only other captured human, Trevathan, who tries to report to the king of enemy apes about Nova and three other good apes secretly setting up the bomb to blow up the enemy's entire base, Trevathan gets easily strangled by the hand of Nova because he goes soft by not bringing any guards. I find that the security is non-existent in this film.

    It is ironic that these minor details are missed by the same director from "Maze Runner", which features intricate and inescapable traps. As aforementioned, this movie is slightly low-key compared to the previous series where there are a lot of explosions and constant interactions between the human and the armed apes led by Caesar, but this is still enjoyable packed with unique creatures and magnificent places.
  • alliedaines - 13 June 2024
    Disappointing
    There were so many directions the story could have gone that in my opinion would have been better. In the first movie "Dawn" they mention in passing a space exploration ship that has lost contact. The idea being, I assume, it is Charlton Hestons ship from the original 1968 movie. I was really hoping they would explore that again. But sadly no. There are little homages here and there... the doll that goes "Mama" for instance, but ultimately I felt like they were going over the same ground as the previous movies. Not really adding anything new, except eagles. The pacing as others say felt way off too and the movie seemed too desperate to try and kick-start a new trilogy, instead of telling a complete compelling story of its own with lots of new elements to push the ape world forward. Overall... I felt sad and disappointed by the final result.
  • ryanpersaud-59415 - 10 June 2024
    Nothing Groundbreaking, But a Nice Start for a New Trilogy
    I enjoyed Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (horrendously long title, but it tracks with the rest of the series). As someone who sort of lost interest in the "new" trilogy after Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I was happy to enter back into this world after an extended period away.

    I can't remember the last time I was genuinely impressed by a film's CG, but Kingdom is one of those rare movies where the CG creatures on display looked so good, it legitimately impressed me. These apes were not only photo realistic, but also retained a level of humanity on their faces - subtle, almost as if they were humans who BECAME apes.

    I also really liked the world building; this movie finally gives us a sense of what, well, the Planet of the Apes is really like in its early days: the apes are beginning to build societies, but aren't as complex as humanity (was) yet. Human beings are on the edge of existence; for the most part closer to animals, yet some intrepid apes have realized learning from us is their best way for planetary supremacy. The details around the lore of Caesar and what he represented was great too.

    I also generally liked the performances; while it took me some time to buy that these apes were talking, and their breathy line delivery felt a bit off at times, by the end it didn't really bother me all that much. As for the humans, I didn't mind them at all either. Freya Allen was a respectable lead who showcased a lot of grit and vulnerability, yet steely-eyed determination with her role. There's a line towards the end (not really a spoiler, but she says "this is a human place. It's ours."), that Allen delivers in such a way that it honestly felt very moving. You can sense the desperate state of humanity through her alone.

    The central philosophical question the film presents - as to whether or not humanity should embrace the apes and their new status or fight back - was compelling and I was totally invested towards the end. It also helps that the action scenes, utilizing the full gamut of ape abilities, are pretty fun and keep the film going nicely.

    That being said, I can't pretend like the film's pacing was great. I don't think this needed to be 2.5 hours long and there were quite a lot middling moments that I felt could've been cut out. The film does lose a bit of steam, but generally picks it up towards the final act.

    I also sort of wish the film was structured a bit differently; I know this might not be a popular opinion, and undoubtedly, there will be a sequel (this movie represents a rare box office success in the otherwise moribund 2024 early summer movie season), but I wouldn't have minded more humans. I think the dynamic between the apes and the people was the film's single strongest aspect.

    In any case, this is a pretty solid movie and I'm excited to see where they go next.