Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes review – Apes of Wrath

They say that “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” Hollywood adheres to a much more succinct alternative to that famous old adage: “Learn history. Repeat it.” As much as this chronic franchise regurgitation irks some, Hollywood occasionally gets it right. It just all depends on what was learned.

When Tim Burton rebooted the classic 1960s Planet of the Apes franchise back in 2001, what he had seemingly learned from history was “Ape costumes, plot twist”. That’s it. Fans yelled for him to take his stinking paws off the franchise immediately. When director Rupert Wyatt and writers Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa took another swing at a reboot in 2011 though, they learned well from history, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a huge hit.

What Wyatt and co had learned is that at the core of that original far-fetched tale about a future society ruled by intelligent apes after humanity had devolved into near neanderthals, were several in-depth treatises on the human condition. Morality, compassion, honour, the horrors of war, social acceptance, love – that’s what made these stories resonate for decades. And when filmmaker Matt Reeves continued this rebooted tale with his two masterpiece follow-ups, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, he elevated things even further, both narratively and technically, to give us arguably the best Hollywood sci-fi trilogy of the modern age.       

And now here we are, seven years after Reeves wrapped up the hugely emotional and epic tale of proto simian leader Caesar, with another Planet of the Apes film. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is not a reboot but a sequel, as new director Wes Ball – with the returning writing duo of Silver and Jaffa – tells a tale set “many generations later”. This is a time where, ironically, history has mostly been forgotten. When we meet Noa (Owen Teague), a young member of the bird-rearing Eagle Tribe of apes, he and his people don’t even know the story of Caesar. Silver and Jaffa obviously do though and want to keep reminding us of it.

As Noa’s encounter with a human girl named Mae (Freya Allen) sets into motion a series of tragic events which force him to venture far outside the only world he knew, you can’t help but continuously see the similarities of what came before. A young ape hero, thrust into a conflict he didn’t ask for; a wise Orangutan companion advising our hero; a young girl who the apes come to care for; and an adversarial ape, hungry for power, who will do anything – even kill his fellow simians – to get it. It echoes just a smidge too much. It takes until the final act before the filmmakers break away to take the big narrative swings the franchise has always been known for.

Despite that familiarity, Noa is certainly no Caesar. Although starting with strong emotional roots, his arc is simply not as well developed. Instead, it’s Mae’s mysterious backstory that continually intrigues, while Raka (Peter Macon), the last of a group of learned orangutans who remember Caesar and revere his teachings almost religiously, steals nearly every scene he’s in with his affable charm. Even Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), the vicious ruler of a group of apes who has twisted his namesake’s words to his own ambitious ends, gets a more memorable showing than our intrepid hero.

This lack of depth is not just resigned to Noa but pops up a few other places in the script. Silver and Jaffa tackle all the relevant narrative talking points that have been a staple of this franchise, and throw in a couple of new wrinkles as well, but the story doesn’t always have all the meat needed for maximum nourishment.

It could though. By the end of the film’s two-hour-plus runtime, there are some really interesting ideas hauled out. This is clearly just the opening chapter of what the filmmakers plan to be a new trilogy, and I am very much on board with seeing where Noa’s tale goes. It already goes to some interesting places here. In fact, despite some of the perceived negativity in this review till now, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is far from a bad film.

Much like the previous trilogy, this latest movie is a technical marvel. The thrice-Oscar-nominated VFX work to bring these apes to life is still very much in full staggering effect. One particularly detailed scene with an ash-covered Noa left my mouth agape. The motion capture work from the actors is also uniformly superb, with digital animation bordering on the supernatural, perfectly selling every single emotional beat with shocking realism. As the main human cast member, Allen also delivers. Mae is a character far more complex than initially perceived and the young actress handles it well.

Meanwhile Ball, who made his name with the action-heavy Maze Runner series, brings a surprising deftness to his direction. I had no doubts he would nail the more frantic moments, but how would he handle the character drama? While he’s definitely no Matt Reeves, with a few dramatic beats feeling a tad unearned, Ball acquits himself admirably in the end. He also films this post-apocalyptic world beautifully, offering staggering nature cinematography as he opts for on-location shooting seamlessly blended with digital effects. This valley is most definitely not uncanny.

The result overall is a solid new entry in this celebrated franchise that sets up a very intriguing future. Yes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, with its monkey-see-monkey-do scripting and new lead Noa being upstaged by the characters around him, is not as overtly magnificent as its predecessors. But if there’s one thing apes can do well, it’s climb higher. I would like to see that happen.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is out 10 May at cinemas, including IMAX.