The Planet of the Apes reboot started thirteen years ago and reimagined the events that lead to simian kind becoming the apex species. With seven years between the release of War for the Planet of the Apes and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the decision to set the movie several generations into the future seems fitting. Many of the apes have forgotten Caesar and what he stood for while those who carry on in his name have distorted Caesar’s lessons and teachings.

A rogue clan of apes attacks the Eagle Clan village and enslaves the denizens as a workforce under Proximus Caesar, a zealot of Caesar. Noa (voiced by Owen Teague) is driven by vengeance after his father is killed in the raid and swears to restore the Eagle Clan. Noa’s worldview will be challenged once he learns more about humans, rival clans, and the real Caesar. The strength of this movie is found in its characters. Noa, Soona (Lydia Peckham), and Annaya (Travis Jeffery) are written so playfully that it was nothing short of heartwrenching once they exited the story.

Fortunately, Nova (Freya Allan) and Raka (Peter Macon) are just as well-written for Noa to interact with on the road trip portion of the movie. Kevin Durand is great as Proximus; however, he gets so little to do that he unfortunately ends up as little more than a stereotypical villain. Not to mention the fact that the first two thirds of the movie are so intimate that the third act by comparison loses a sense of urgency until the final showdown.

The relationship between Nova and Noa is most compelling. There’s a distrust between the two characters that never truly resolves. There is a sense of finality to the movie’s events, but I would have loved if this story was explored more in-depth via a streaming platform (obviously the show’s budget would have to be insane) or if future installments kept subsequent events closer together in time. However, if the follow-up to this movie is anything like the previous trilogy, then we sadly won’t see Nova and Noa’s story resolve in the traditional sense, but will perhaps bear witness to the repercussions of their actions.

Either way, I’d love to see the conclusion of Wes Ball’s vision for the Planet of the Apes franchise.

Rating: 4.5/5.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is available on 4K Ultra HD & Blu-Ray Aug 27 and is now available on all digital retailers (Prime Video, Apple TV and Fandango at Home) and can be streamed on Hulu.

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The writer of this piece is: Laurence Almalvez
Laurence tweets from @IL1511

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