Directed by:
Wes BallScreenplay:
Josh FriedmanCinematography:
Gyula PadosComposer:
John PaesanoCast:
Freya Allan, Owen Teague, Peter Macon, William H. Macy, Kevin Durand, Eka Darville, Sara Wiseman, Neil Sandilands, Lydia Peckham, Dichen Lachman, Karin Konoval (more)VOD (3)
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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. (20th Century Studios)
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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%
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Caesar is dead, but his legacy lives on, albeit in a twisted form! Although I haven't seen War for the Planet of the Apes, I went to the cinema to see the latest entry in the post-apocalyptic ape saga, as it is a fresh reboot(?) of the franchise. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is another audiovisually captivating spectacle, standing out in particular for its amazing CGI apes. Story-wise, the film doesn't have much to surprise, but it was still very easy to watch thanks to the attractive visuals and the regularly dosed action. I was intrigued by the character of Raky and also by the line with the breeding of eagles (it reminded me of the ikrans from Avatar). I wonder if there will be a sequel in the coming years, which I certainly wouldn't be averse to.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Photo © 20th Century Studios
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