Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes – Review

Cert – 12, Run-time – 2 hours 26 minutes, Director – Wes Ball

When his village is attacked and destroyed, chimpanzee Noa (Owen Teague) sets out to find and free his tribe from an ape trying to unlock a secret which could give him control of the now planet of the apes.

When Disney bought 20th Century Fox one of the first things they set to action was working on new instalments of some of the studio’s biggest franchises. When it comes to the recent series of Planet Of The Apes films the right thing was done in moving things on from the days of Andy Serkis’ Caesar by over three hundred years. Now based in the 24th century we are well and truly in the planet of the apes. Apes live in various tribes amongst a new wilderness, growing over what were once skyscrapers and airports, almost all backdrops we see take the form of natural land.

We follow chimpanzee Noa (Owen Teague) who the night before a major ceremony which will see him develop in life sees his village attacked and burned down by a group of weapon-wielding apes. Presumed dead he takes it upon himself to travel to the once-forbidden area beyond his home to track down his friends and family and get revenge. As with the previous entries in this iteration of the franchise the visual effects, motion capture performances and human characters blend seamlessly. There’s no hint of uncanny valley in any of the visuals throughout the film and once again it’s easy to buy into the genuine nature of the characters and their surroundings.

Whilst travelling, Noa encounters various new faces including key figures orangutan Raka (Peter Macon) – the most likable presence of the film, recounting the words of Caesar which he claims have been forgotten and twisted over the years – and human Mae (Freya Allan), who appears to be hunted by those who attacked Noa’s village. There’s a lot of build-up before meeting these characters, and it even takes a while to progress further as they make progress towards Noa’s uncertain destination. At almost 2-and-a-half hours the run-time is certainly long, particularly during this first half where everything is still coming together.

Once in the second half we’re finally introduced to villain Proximus (Kevin Durand), an ape trying to unlock a secret which he believes could give him total control of the planet of the apes. It may be the case that things move quicker once everything has been set out or it might be that we simply spend less time here than it takes to get to the location, but the feeling is certainly that things pick up. The narrative might feel somewhat familiar, perhaps emphasised by the contrasting visuals and setting, but there’s luckily still some effective action here and there.

Early on a bit more context and insight might help when it comes to certain conflicts, and even the initial attacks by Proximus’ followers, but there’s still an engaging nature to things thanks to the effective way in which the ape characters come across and, now fully speaking, communicate, even if some introductions do feel a bit staggered as the world opens up.

Without Caesar this entry manages to find success, although its best successes lie in the moments that call back to the character and feel particularly inspired by him – especially as the central characters discover that man and ape once lived together in peace. Not a whole piece aimed at expanding a world and leading to more sequels, although the final stages are undoubtedly building up to more in the future, but interest is created in what might be the case in the wider world outside of what we see here, and just what the rest of the developing planet of the apes is like, and how apes interact with the almost silent human figures living in the wilderness in minimal numbers. As a continuation and potential new starting point this is an overall solid enough bridge-like new chapter in this particular saga.

While the run-time is felt due to a lengthy first half, and familiar narrative, there’s likable action and characters within Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes, helped by the consistently brilliant visual effects and motion capture performances which bring much of what we see to life.