In 1968, a vision of a dystopian future was imagined where apes became the dominant species, leaving humans to writhe in a reversed role that even robbed them of their ability to speak and form intelligent thoughts. It was ripe with allegorical storytelling, right off the back of the Civil Rights movement. Putting us into the place of those whom have been oppressed, many were surprised at how shockingly layered the film was. Many underwhelming sequels-and a rather terrible remake-later, the franchise was rebooted with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. This, and its two sequels, proved to be an open-armed welcome, re-contextualising the story to fit animal cruelty, but still keeping its racial subtext buried in far more subtle ways.
With the third movies ending on such a high and bittersweet note, it didn’t feel as though the franchise needed another entry. With Caesar’s story dead an buried, what more needed to be done? Well, of course there was more to see. Now that the timeline was creeping closer to where the first movie had started, a chance to explore a civilisation of apes that walk the path Caesar left them was something that fans of this franchise could excite themselves over. Speaking as a fan myself, having seen every film in this rather turbulent franchise of ape societies, interspecies mingling, and even an underground society of psychic irradiated humans, I was curious to see how far this next entry would go.
With the previous three being rather consistent in quality, it’s not too bold of a thought to think that this fourth entry in the rebooted franchise would manage to maintain that same consistency. This is Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (these titles never cease to be the worst part of the franchise).
Many decades have passed since Caesar, the ape that led the revolution of other apes to live in their own society and yearned for co-existence with the humans, had died. One dream was found, but the humans now live like animals due to a virus that grew and grew to the point of leaving them dumb and rather simple-minded. Apes now live in different tribes, and one such tribe spends their days raising eagles, and their leader’s son, Noa (Owen Teague), is ready to have his own. But after a human sneaks into the camp, and accidently destroys Noa’s egg, it leads to a community of elitist apes ransacking the village, killing Noa’s father, and enslaving the surviving villagers, including Noa’s best friends Soona (Lydia Peckham) and Anaya (Travis Jeffery).
Noa ventures into the wastelands that seperate his village from the rest of the world, where he discovers the ruins of the old world that came before. Meeting an old orangutan by the name of Raka (Peter Macon), Noa learns of the now Christ-like figure that was Caesar, with this evil tribe of apes taking his teachings and manipulating them for their own benefit. The two apes find a young human, calling her Nova (Freya Allen), as all humans are called, and decide to aide her on her quest to find her people. But the mute Nova may hide a secret intelligence that no other human holds.
With the evil ape Proximus aiming to tear down a reinforced door containing supposed secrets to evolution, Noa is left to decide whether this ape supremacy is truly beneficial, or if the real ideals of Caesar’s visions of co-existence is the right path.
Like so many others, my worry were seeing how a Planet of the Apes film would fare without Andy Serkis’s Caesar. True, Caesar wasn’t all that significant in the original series of films until the fourth entry. But this rebooted universe was riding on the back of this single ape’s journey. Noa, while not having the same tumultuous journey of his predecessor, does make for a rather compelling protagonist.
The idea of a young hero having to complete a tough journey to find his place in a leadership role is nothing new, but it’s helped massively by what the foundation of this new film is. This world we see normalises the idea of apes being the predominant species, flipping our perspective the way the original did. This time, there’s no dashing human hero to guide us along. It reflects how much our view on society has changed, how nature being above us destructive humans seems more appropriate as each year passes. That’s made evident by how primitive the world is, despite being set in the future. So having Noa make use of these limitations and discovering his place in the world through these means makes for a compelling journey.
The film really rewards fans of the series. Caesar is frequently brought up as the reason so much of society is the way it is. Much like in real life, the teachings of this single entity becomes twisted and misconstrued. Again, like real life, different communities have different views on what Caesar wanted. For the dedicated fans, seeing these words become manipulated makes it easier to despise Proximus. Though, I do wonder how newcomers will see this. Proximus can feel very thin at times, and hardly compares to previous antagonists. These movies never quite work as well when a human isn’t the lead antagonist. In a lot of ways, Noa represents the newcomer, joining into a franchise they’ve been told about, but never understanding it. It has a level of meta commentary that one can easily admire, rewarding both camps alike.
What becomes most apparent with the film is how it maintains its subtext. With modern society feeling so divided in the last ten years or more, the political commentary of the original film feels ageless. You see both extremes on display here, with Proxima’s elitist behaviour and how he looks upon humans as weak and a means to an end, while Raka shows compassion to those who are unfortunate. I can certainly hear anyone reading this: ‘it’s a movie about apes, don’t take it so seriously,’ but the franchise has always been rooted in this very commentary.
For every ounce of subtext, there’s so much more entertainment to go with it. What you’re all here for is to discover just how entertaining the film is, and how it stacks up to the previous three. And to no shock at all, this one manages to reach those same heights of quality.
This film is thoroughly entertaining. The opening scene, after the initial prelude, is a great introduction to our protagonist, highlighting the youth of the character, while also showcasing his connection to the other two apes. We get an endearing scene of Noa climbing a mountain, followed by his return to the village. The real action doesn’t waste time kicking in, with a blazing fire engulfing the village, and an emotional beat that manages to hit hard, even this early on. The proceeding action is exciting as well, calling back to the first film with a sequence where the evil apes hunt down humans, with a reimagined version of the classic score. All this is complimented by the endlessly impressive motion-capture technology. Much like the last two films, you feel as if you’re looking at actual apes, perfectly articulated by realistic emotions and pinpoint ape mannerisms. With Hollywood films today being so overblown with rushed animation, it’s nice to see something genuinely eye-catching.
There are little slogs of blandness that echo some of the previous films. I drew comparisons to the last movie, War for the Planet of the Apes in how it showcases apes in this prison camp. The blandness comes from how familiar it all feels. Even the story surrounding Nova is rather indicative of the previous Nova in the aforementioned film. That said, I do admire the resolution of this story more, feeling that the journey this Nova goes on to be more rewarding. It is satisfying to see how the world became what it did after Caesar’s death, and it’s sure to please the old fans, as well as entice newcomers. But I can say that most of what I loved about the film was seeing the outcome of what was set up in previous entries and how it comes full circle to the very first film-albeit, only through callbacks and not a genuine link.
I look at the Planet of the Apes franchise the way I would look at the Marvel Universe: it’s not water-deep or comparable to other subtexts in other films, but it’s still better than most would expect. This latest entry, which is bound to be the beginning of another set of films, manages to maintain the consistent quality of these latest entries. While it borrows from other films, it does tell a story interesting enough on its own, and broadens the world of these apes for fans to indulge themselves in.
You probably knew going in to this review that my opinion would not be too negative, as very few critics have ragged on these films in the past. While it has its flaws, and it certainly could benefit from a more enticing human villain, it’s still worth the time. We may be overwhelmed by legacy sequels and unoriginal ideas, but if it is going to remain that way, make them as entertaining as this…just give me the Statue of Liberty next time; that’s all I ask.
Written review by Conor Johnson.
Conor's Corner of Criticism 