Movie Review: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

I have never seen the original "Planet of the Apes" movies (something I am currently working on fixing), but I have loved all the recent prequel movies. They are some of the most technically impressive films of the past decades. And on top of all that, they have a story that is more than simply references to the original. It has been seven years since the last chapter of this story.

"Kindom of the Planet of the Apes" jumps "generations" from where "War" left off and the apes have broken up into clans. When his clan is attacked, Noa (Owen Teague) teams up with a human named Mae (Freya Allen) to rescue them.

"Kingdom" makes some narratively interesting choices that I enjoyed. Moving the timeline ahead by 300 years allows the movie not to be beholden to the events of "War" while still reckoning with the events of the previous movies. Ceaser's teachings have become forgotten by some and corrupted by others. Proximas Ceaser (Kevin Duran) is the perfect example of this. Ceaser (played by Andy Serkis) had two beliefs: "Apes Together Strong" and "Ape Not Kill Ape." Proximas only knows "Apes Strong." He sees that as Apes need to amass power. This is why he is kidnapping other apes to get them to help open a vault where humans left powerful weapons. He will do whatever it takes to get in there, even if it means killing apes. 

My main issue is that you aren't rooting for these characters as much as you were for Ceaser. I do not think the writing does enough to give the viewer a reason to care for any of the apes. Noa and his friends are not fully fleshed-out characters, so you do not have an emotional investment in their struggles. In "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," Ceaser developed into a character the audience could root for and they were given many reasons to do so. I just did not feel that with Noa. It could change in the next movies, but one movie in, I am not feeling a connection to the characters. 

This is a franchise that has no business being as good as it is. It is a prequel series to a series from the 60s and 70s of varying quality. The first three of this prequel series were compelling art pieces and revitalized the Planet of the Apes franchise. While 'Kingdom' didn't quite reach the heights of the previous three movies, I still found it an enjoyable addition to the franchise. 

7/10

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence/action

2h 24min