Director: Wes Ball
Starring: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 145 mins

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the latest in the ever-endearing franchise and marks the start of a new era after the excellent reboot trilogy. With Andy Serkis’ Caesar kicking the bucket at the end of War for the Planet of the Apes, this film picks up ‘many generations’ after War’s conclusion with a new set of characters. 

Directed by Wes Ball, most notable for The Maze Runner trilogy, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes opens with the simians having established numerous clans. Humans have now become even more feral. Noa (Owen Teague) from the Eagle Clan, prepares for a coming-of-age ceremony by collecting eagle eggs with his friends. However, events lead to his village being burned down by a group of ape raiders, led by their self-proclaimed king, Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand). 

Although Ball witholds Proximus Caesar from the screen for quite a while, we feel his influence right from the raid, a wickedly intelligent villain who has twisted Caesar’s teachings and diluted them to something that the great ape hadn’t intended. Noa sets out after the raiders to rescue his clan, along with an orange-utan Raka (Peter Macon) and a human scavenger who he names Nova (Freya Allan). 

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is an uncommonly intelligent sequel and is another strong entry in the series. The underlying social subtext is what really allows these films to excel, and the lack of it is what lets down its two weakest instalments – Tim Burton’s misguided Planet of the Apes remake and Beneath the Planet of the Apes. The idea of exploring how a key figure’s teachings have been twisted after a period of time is a genius move, reflecting the intrigue and conflict brought by religion in our world. 

I loved how Ball advances the aesthetic and tone of the series – gone are the predominantly forested surroundings of Dawn and War and its road movie influence feels closer to earlier entries of the original pentology. The abandoned human world is fascinating to pick apart, from rusted escalators to buildings covered in overgrown fauna. There’s some great set-pieces too, with fast-paced and memorable action sequences, the highlight being one on a bridge. 

The film is lusciously shot by Gyula Pados and John Paesano does a great job with the score, no mean feat coming off of Michael Giacchino’s work. Although it’s not quite the slamdunk of Giacchino, it’s fitting and I liked that Paesano respects both Giacchino and original Planet of the Apes composer Jerry Goldsmith’s theme, while hedging out his own. I particularly liked the theme of Noa riding out to track the clan under a bridge – Noa’s Purpose on the soundtrack. 

Arguably with an even greater task on his plate is Owen Teague, who fortunately proves an excellent lead and at no point was I longing for Andy Serkis’ return. He gives Noa a likeable and easy personality to root for, even if he goes on a more straightforward journey than Caesar. That said, Noa’s thrown straight in the deep end and is constantly thrown obstacles to deal with.

Kevin Durand is brilliant as Proximus Caesar, quite possibly both career-best work and one of the most memorable villains of the series. Despite his limited screentime, you can feel his presence throughout and he’s given some killer dialogue by screenwriter Josh Friedman. Peter Macon’s also brilliant as the orange-utan, Raka, who gets given lots of the film’s comic relief but has bags of personality and does his best to spread the word of Caesar’s philosophy.  

The human characters don’t fare quite as well, although that’s not a big problem compared to other Planet of the Apes entries or monster films such as the recent Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire because humans play second-fiddle to the apes in the story. Still, The Witcher’s Freya Allan makes a reasonable impression and William H. Macy is clearly having fun in a small role as Trevathan, a cowardly figure who teaches Proximus Caesar human history.  

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a more than worthy addition to the series and I was quite surprised by how good it was. It’s uncommonly thoughtful for a mainstream blockbuster and although long at 145 minutes, I really liked how Ball gave the film breathing room to develop the world he’s introducing and the characters. Although there are hints as to where future entries could go (I’ll admit there are some worrying elements here and I hope the series retains its grounded approach), they’re not at the cost of this film’s quality, a flaw which has dragged many a film down. 

It isn’t clear yet whether Ball is going to direct the next entries but I’m really pleased to see he put the effort in with this entry. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes does an excellent job of advancing the reboot series, while brimming with potent social subtext and respecting what made the original pentology work. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Excellent)