Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is playing in theaters at the time of writing. Rated PG-13. Common Sense says 13+.
Taking place 300 years after the previous Apes installment, Noa’s clan is taken captive by another ape clan. He sets off to free them, unsure if he can trust the human being he meets along the way.
STORY: D+
The story has too much confusion and not enough “wow”.
Many parts of the movie are intentionally confusing. It enjoys waiting 45 minutes or so before finally letting us know what was actually happening. It’s an old screenwriting trick, which works wonderfully when the later revelation is either surprising, moving, or super-freaking-cool enough to forgive the prior confusion. Unfortunately, despite the story’s many thought provoking themes, the payoffs are never worth it.
THE SCOOP: Check out the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes IMDb page, here.
PEOPLE: B-
The performances are great, even if the script doesn’t give us a chance to bond with the characters.
It’s a classic case of the actors not having enough to work with. It’s too bad, because the cast does a fine job of working with the material laid in front of them.
CAST PARTY: Check out Fandango’s interview with the cast, here. (2 mins)
FILM NERD STUFF: A
As is tradition in the Planet of the Apes-iverse, the motion capture work is phenomenal.
The apes look and feel like real animals. The CGI wizards’ achievement actually makes you occasionally forget that they aren’t real.
BEHIND THE SCENES: Check out this featurette about motion capture from 20th Century Studios, here. (2 mins)
ELECTIVE CLASS (Be your own movie!): D
The film is too concerned about setting up a new trilogy, and not concerned enough about being an outstanding, stand alone film.
The film’s plot can stand alone on its own strength. But its exposition is so focused on world building that it either forgets or ignores the fact that audiences need to care about the characters in order to love a movie.
It’s a fatal flaw for the countless films made these days whose sole purpose for existing is to serve as the opening act of a trilogy. To see a film that avoids this flaw, look at Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I had fallen in love with that kid before Post Malone had a chance to spit bars on “Sunflower”.
FINAL COMMENTS:
Watching this movie feels like having a conversation with someone who’s clearly thinking more about what they're going to say next than what’s being discussed in the moment. It feels distant and, on some level, uninterested in its audience. Its entire focus is on the movies to come.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes isn’t a terrible film, but it’s not a great one. It may not even be a good one.
Which one it is for you will depend on whether you’re ok viewing the film through either the context of an entire trilogy or as a singular piece of work.