20th Century Studios presents Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes in UK cinemas now. The film releases in the US on May 10, 2024.
Synopsis
Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise 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.
Review
Almost sixty years after the first film broke new cinematic ground and seven years after Matt Reeves’ fan-favourite War for the Planet of the Apes, director Wes Ball is attempting to break new ground by bridging the gap between two incredible eras of filmmaking. In UK cinemas from today (May 9), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes promises a huge scale sci-fi adventure to ignite the lacklustre start to summer 2024.
Taking place “many centuries” after the Caesar trilogy, Kingdom sets out to create a whole new vision for the ape society. Part of the fascination in Josh Friedman’s script is the way in which the apes have splintered. Spreading out across the globe with their own tribes and communities. We re-enter the world through the eyes of Noa (Owen Teague), a young ape who forms part of a tribe living just outside of one of America’s former great cities. Along with friends Soona (Lydia Peckham) and Anaya (Travis Jeffery), Noa begins the film preparing for bonding day. A festival which focusses on how his tribe shares the land with the birds.
At face value the opening seems like a reasonable excuse for Ball to show off the incredible scale and scope of this world. His prior work on The Maze Runner franchise having already cemented him a capable director. But digging beneath the surface of the young apes struggle to secure eggs and their return to their village and the realisation quickly comes that there is much more going on. What Ball and Friedman are doing is deftly communicating to the audience the rich culture and tradition of the tribe. Their connection to the land and reverence for the creature they share it with. The culture is painstakingly created and this is replicated across each of the different groups we meet in the film.
The other main group in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is run by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand). A supposedly tyrannical ruler who is hell bent on bringing together all of the apes in an empire much like his namesake. Only it seems the version of Caesar this tribe worships has more in common with his Roman counterpart than the character so beautifully played by Andy Serkis in the most recent trilogy. Whilst Teague’s Noa is the successor to Caesar’s charismatic, lovable portrayal. Durand’s Proximus is a formidable foe. His ability to command the screen if effortless, no small feat for a motion capture performance. With technology having advanced it feels like not only is a lifelike ape on screen, but the actors mannerisms and facial features are still seamlessly incorporated in to the VFX.
The entire film is near flawless in its presentation. The opening scenes feel ripped from a nature documentary despite the obvious differences from the world outside our own window. The only thing missing is an Attenborough narration. The world of Kingdom is a harmonious mix of real world photography and visual effects. Luscious landscapes are littered with the crumbling remains of the human world, now choked with plant life. Taking the franchise a step further than War, very little now remains of the human world but those aspects which do still stand serve the film’s second purpose: bringing us closer to the 1968 arrival of Charlton Heston.
Occasionally the larger scale scenes lose some fidelity in the distance. An expansive former cargo ship marooned on a beach doesn’t quite mesh fully with the surrounding beach for example. At times distant trees in the overgrown forest feel slightly out of touch with the huge ape-structures before them. The niggles are minor. The visuals impressive.
Where Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes never fails is with its characters. Even when dozens of apes share the screen the characters feel real and well integrated with the surrounding world. Whilst it might be impossible to eyeball every character in these moments those who do grab the attention move with individuality and a unique personality, helping to make the world feel even more real. Each of the leads, including Noa’s mother and father plus their tribal elders and members of Proximus’ tribe are equally well rendered. Having seen the opening 30 minutes at the film’s launch a couple of weeks ago I spent my second watch of these scenes looking for issue with fine detail and there is none. You can count the hairs on each ape’s face and that is incredible.
Flying the flag for us humans is Nova/Mae (Freya Allan), a human whose abilities have caught the eye of Proximus. Allan has to spend much of the film acting purely through facial expression and body language. The young actor, who most will know for The Witcher, does an admirable job of standing out against her ape co-stars. Allan’s performance is a stand up audition for playing a young Lara Croft if MGM were to attempt another adaption of the recent trilogy of Tomb Raider games. Allan’s role is arguably the most complicated due to the lack of communication but for her first major blockbuster she makes a great impression on the audience. Given much more to do in the second half of the story, Allan shows a versatility we haven’t seen before and even aids Kingdom in posing some existential questions about our own society. I can’t say much more… spoilers!
In an era dominated by comic book movies it’s great to see pure science fiction IP like Dune and Planet of the Apes succeeding at the box office. This is the kind of film which is both incredible on the big screen – see it in IMAX if you can – but also exemplary of the kind of filmmaking needed to reignite our love of going to the cinema.
Verdict
Director Wes Ball has crafted a visionary new entry in the long-running franchise ably and excitingly beginning to bridge the gap between the Caesar trilogy and the classic 1968 original.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
