Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

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)

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 love this whole monkey franchise, I love Wes Ball and I love his Labyrinth films, so this was a clear guarantee of quality, which was confirmed from the first minutes. If something is flawless, it's the visuals of the whole film, because we get absolutely realistic monkeys, whose quality increases with every episode and this is probably the imaginary peak, it can’t get better than this. Then there is the excellent depiction of the colorful world around, the forests, nature, the eagles!! I have no words for this aspect of the film. Equally, I have to commend the story, which explains in the introduction where we've come since Caesar's time, and which solidly portrays the various current "factions" on the ground and who's really against who. So as a visual treat, along with the globe-trotting and unraveling of the story, the film is great. My only problem, though, which also puts me off the full score, is the lack of any major action, a grand finale or mass battle (which in previous films was almost always a big finale...), as well as the story being perhaps a little too forcefully directed towards that fateful rocket landing (which we all kind of saw coming), so the viewer actually probably knows roughly who's going to win, what's going to happen and how it's all going to end, which kind of spoils the surprise moment. Although the impression is overwhelmingly positive, the film is still lacking some more closure, a better villain or more fatality, so I guess we can only hope that Wes will take it properly and bring more carnage in the coming episodes. Oh, and I commend the eagles and the originality of that element, as they were really good. (05/11/2024)