Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes-Taking the Themes of the Ape Franchise Into a New Direction

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes borrows from the original series' themes and ideas while connecting to the lore of the 2010s trilogy. Much of its world-building feels very similar to the one seen in Battle for the Planet of the Apes, a more simplistic ape world, but with civilized apes with a unique set of rules and laws. Much of this world-building can be seen in the first act, which is much slower and more methodical in its pacing than I expected. Much of the first act consists of sweeping wide shots of vistas of this new world, and it's very light on dialogue, mainly relying on visual storytelling to ease the viewer into this new Ape world in a way that Battle for The Planet of the Apes struggled to do. 

Much of the first and second act consists of this new Protagonist, Noa, on a personal journey through this world in search of his family. Easing the viewer into this world gets the viewer genuinely emotionally invested in these characters. It makes Noa's journey incredibly captivating. 

Once it reaches the third act, the film slightly expands the scope of its story. That's when I found the film to be at its most fascinating, exploring themes and ideas previously explored in this franchise but in wholly new ways that I found extremely compelling. The film follows the previous trilogy by jumping forward several generations, turning Caeser into a deity figure. The film uses this concept to explore the idea of religious fanaticism, how some characters use Caser's beliefs to drive their actions, but in drastically different ways. Some characters use Caeser's beliefs to drive their need to do good and improve the world. The antagonist, Proximus, uses Caeser's beliefs to drive their malevolent actions. The film's final few scenes also explore the thematic question that this franchise built itself on, whether or not apes and humanity can live together, in an incredibly compelling way and sets things up to move this franchise in an interesting new direction. 

Wes Ball's direction lacks Matt Reeve's dynamic use of shadows and lighting, which gave the previous two films this tangible, lived-in quality. But what Wes Ball accomplishes with his direction on Kingdom, more than anything, is giving his film this grand sense of scope and scale. Much of the film consists of detailed and gorgeous wide shots of the vistas of this world, from the luscious forests to the sandy coastlines. The Motion Capture CGI on the apes continues to look incredibly detailed and lifelike, mainly when the film uses close-ups of the faces. 

The film has some rocky pacing throughout. When Noa leaves his village, the second act drags on a bit long. Once Noa arrives at Proximus's kingdom, the film stops dead in its tracks to provide some admittedly interesting exposition. However, it leads to an incredibly tense climax and an emotionally satisfying finale. 

So, despite some rocky pacing, I found Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes to be everything I expected of the film and then some. The film takes the themes and ideas of this franchise and explores them through a wholly new world while keeping to the lore of the previous three movies. It's also a Hollywood Blockbuster that gets you to genuinely emotionally connect with its characters, making for a film that provides emotionally impactful moments on top of the spectacle of its gorgeous visual effects. The film feels so luscious and grand in its scope while getting you to care about its story and characters in a way that I think we need to see more out of Hollywood Blockbusters.

Now Showing in Theaters in the U.S