I rolled my eyes when I first learned that Hollywood was making another Planet of the Apes movie. Why can’t they just let a perfectly good trilogy be as they are? Apparently, director Wes Ball felt the same way, that is until he thought about jumping ahead in the timeline.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes story is set many generations after Caesar has died, where apes have established various clans. As it’s been established in the previous films, a human-created virus (mutated Simian Flu) has made apes more intelligent and evolved as a species, while the opposite is true for humans as it returns them to their primitive state. The opening effectively introduces us to the film’s new protagonist, a young chimpanzee named Noa (voiced by Owen Teague) from the Eagle clan who’s hunting for eagle’s eggs for a rights-of-passage ceremony with his friends Anaya (Travis Jeffery) and Soona (Lydia Peckham). It shows these apes are expert climbers as they nimbly scale towering mountains and trees. It’s a cool action sequence that ties to an important plot point later in the film.

It helps that there’s at least one screenwriter from the reboot trilogy (starting with Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011) Rick Jaffa, who collaborates with Josh Friedman and Amanda Silver on the script. While Caesar is no longer present, his spirit is still felt here as the film examines his legacy and what’s become of his radical ideas as an ape raised by humans. As with most historical legacies, the younger generation often isn’t aware of them, as is the case with Noa who often hears the name Caesar being mentioned without knowing who that is. For the viewers who may not be familiar with the reboot storylines, this movie shows just how important Caesar is with a scene of a dignified funeral for the Moses-like ape leader.

Noa’s peaceful existence is abruptly disrupted by a violent tribe of apes who abduct his clan, burn down his village, and kill his father Koro. As Noa sets out to avenge and rescue his clan, he encounters a wise and well-read orangutan named Raka (Peter Macon) who enlightens Noa about Caesar’s teachings. There is plenty of dialog between the ape characters which some might consider too slow, but I find the talky scenes quite riveting. It’s when they encounter a human scavenger (Freya Allan) that things start to really pick up action-wise.

Despite the title that depicts a kingdom ruled by the apes, this movie also offers an intriguing human story with Allan at the center of it. She’s the only human character featured for most of the movie, though we do see feral humans (looking like Tarzans) during a pivotal scene. Glad I didn’t see some of the movie promos that spoil Mae’s character, as Rakka’s and Noa’s reaction to her big reveal is pretty amusing.

The tentative relationship between Noa and Mae is captivating and unsettling as both are forced to question everything they’ve been taught about each other. They’re both on a quest, though the filmmakers keep Mae’s motivations opaque for good reason. As humans face extinction, a clan of coastal apes led by an ambitious, power-hungry Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) wants to remain the dominant species for good. His human ally Trevathan (William H. Macy), who’s got a nice home in Proximus’ compound complete with a library, has been teaching him everything about the human ways.

The ‘Apes’ franchise has effectively made viewers reflect on our own humanity, warts and all, through the lens of the evolved apes. One of the most chilling scenes is between Mae and Trevathan, rendering even some apes aghast at what humans are capable of. Allan is outstanding as Mae, I’ve never seen her before in anything, but I’m impressed with her performance here. Teague, Macon, Durand, and all the cast portraying the apes are terrific as well, they all went to “ape school” learning how to walk, talk, and act like an ape for six weeks. Even mo-cap master Andy Serkis was involved as a consultant, I read that his advice to the actors was ‘not to focus too hard on the physicality and to delve into the character just like one would with any human character.’ That’s definitely great advice that the cast took to heart.

This is a prime example of a film that uses advanced VFX and filmmaking techniques to enhance storytelling for a spectacular cinematic experience. The depictions of the apes and their world are incredibly realistic. The cinematography by Gyula Pados is stunning, while composer John Paeseno pays homage to Jerry Goldsmith’s original score for Planet of the Apes. I was already in awe of what they had done with the reboot over a decade ago but this time it really blew me away. The action scenes, especially in the third act, are pretty tense and suspenseful. So many times I watched a scene and wondered ‘How did they do THAT?!’ That said, the visuals don’t take over the narrative that deftly immerses you in the characters’ journeys.

Wes Ball + co. are likely planning for another trilogy and they set up Mae’s and Noa’s story so wonderfully that it opens up to whole new possibilities. It’s a testament to how fantastic this film is that now I’m up for more ‘Apes’ movies.

Have you seen Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes? I’d love to hear what you think!

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