Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

A script that could easily have taken 100 minutes of running time. At least in the first third of the film, the heroes are sometimes groping in a breathtakingly made visual arrangement full of crumbled skyscrapers in an overgrown jungle, and it takes a hell of a long time before it starts to have any momentum and any systematic direction in which the new Apes want to go. The umpteenth sequel, which thankfully doesn't degrade in the style of Fast and Furious and other similar mega-sagas, but still maintains a spare, relatively minimalist storyline and very reasonable action that doesn't come at the expense of storytelling. The ending got it moving solidly, but it lacked top speed. Plus, in some moments, the filmmakers took strong inspiration from recent contributions to the Mad Max franchise. (07/12/2024)

Apes strong together... With Caesar's passing came the necessary long exposure. The new hero Noah, the new heroine Nova, and of course family and friends. Funny sequences about the foul odors of human females alternate with themes of artificial evolution. Knowledge and technology vs symbiosis with nature is beautifully sketched out and could use more elaboration, but there's no time. Wes Ball is building the fertile ground for a new trilogy and succeeds in presenting an interesting world that I want to know more about. A world that nature has taken back from humans and where the Legend of Caesar takes on a life of its own and is subjected to new interpretations. The apes, as a product of our failure, slowly tread our path, but have the ruins of our triumphs in their sights, which they want for themselves. I wonder where they'll take it. I'm sorry the smart people haven't disappeared. I'm waiting for the astronauts to arrive and visit New York. But this is missing the point. (05/13/2024)

I don't see any major differences in the direction and I don't trust Wes Ball much, but for me it's another sheer blockbuster spectacle that meets the highest criteria, it's setting itself up for another excellent Trilogy (there aren't many of those in the works right now) and it will definitely be in the top 5 among blockbusters this year. Plot-wise, I like it better, the apes are in control and the humans will gradually fight to take over. The new hero Noah is likable, Freya Allan is adorable and acts great (another female star looms here), Proximus is a solid villain, visually it's a VFX gem! The action scenes have drive, tension, emotion and a thick atmosphere, in fact I was almost breathless during every scene, it's that gripping (the home invasion one was almost horror) and the whole grand finale has the necessary gusto. 100% immersion in the story with a world that still has something to offer. 85% (05/09/2024)

Yes, it's true that the last third doesn't live up to the two previous ones, although it really tries to, but otherwise it's basically a repeat of the 13 year old surprise from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which I wasn't expecting much from either. This time, we've finally reached the stage where the apes are playing the lead and humans have taken second fiddle (although it may be different again in the sequel), and it's great. The visual effects work their magic again, the characters are 100% believable, the story is interesting and exploring an alien but familiar world definitely has its charm (05/16/2024)

I'm going to say it, and I'm surprised myself. Even though I'm an old boomer who grew up on the first Planet of the Apes from the late 60s, and even though I'm not a fan of the CGI serendipity of today, the direction that Rupert Wyatt took 13 years ago, Matt Reeves continued, and now Wes Ball has followed up on, is very much to my liking. While the old Apes from the 70s was becoming a ridiculous parody of itself (and an ugly one at that) episode by episode (except for the legendary first one), and Tim Burton didn't take to it happily later on either, so the current tetralogy is beautifully paced, looks beautiful, makes logical sense in how the apes evolve and take over, and the current installment is such a natural evolution in the plot that the cards are already clearly dealt. It makes me happy that in this day and age we have a film franchise that has great references and works well, which is not the norm in contemporary Hollywood, where "rhyming" is done at the top of its lungs and it usually turns out badly. (05/08/2024)