The original Planet of the Apes franchise began with the 1968 film Planet of the Apes in which astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) crash lands on a planet ruled by apes and befriends two chimpanzees who help him discover the truth. This was followed by 1970’s Beneath the Planet of the Apes where a second spaceship crashes, and Brent and Taylor detonate a doomsday weapon. The third in the franchise, 1971’s Escape from the Planet of the Ape, centered around chimp Cornelius and Zira fleeing Earth and traveling back to 1973. A fourth was concocted when 1972’s Conquest of the Planet of the Apes had Cornelius and Zira’s son Caesar lead apes in revolution. It is here a plague has wiped out dogs and cats and now apes are household pets that are treated like slaves. However, Caesar has the intelligence to fight this oppression. The final movie in the original franchise was 1973’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes which did a time jump ten years after a worldwide series of ape revolutions and a brutal nuclear war among humans. An awful mess, Caesar must protect survivors of both species from an insidious human cult and a militant ape faction alike.
With the originals always being the band, the franchise picked back up with a 2001 remake, but also a new era when Rise of the Planet of the Apes arrived in 2011, before 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes which explores the fragile peace between humans and apes. This was followed by 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes where after the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his mythic quest to avenge his kind. Bringing right into 2024 where we have Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Released in theaters on May 24th, it became available to Buy at Digital Retailers on July 9th, before the physical format 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD releases on August 27th.
With this all in mind, the 2000s continuation of Planet of the Apes has not had a consistent director through any of the most recent titles. For Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Wes Ball (The Maze Runner franchise, the in-development Legend of Zelda) picks up the reins from War for the Planet of the Apes’s Director Matt Reeves. It appears each director used time jumps in the timeline to give credence to a different feel or sensibility from movie to movie. Whether they helped or hindered the subsequent films, is in the eye of the beholder.
Starring Owen Teague (It 2017, It Chapter Two 2019) as young chimpanzee hunter Noa, Kevin Durand (The Strain series, Abigail 2024) as the ambitious, ruthless Proximus Caesar, Peter Macon (Family Guy series, Shameless series) as the wise, virtuous Bornean orangutan Raka, Lydia Peckham (Why Does Love? 2017, Only Cloud Knows 2019) as Noa’s love interest Soona, Travis Jeffery (Preacher series, Home and Away series) as Noa’s best friend Anaya, Sara Wiseman (Rake series, High Country series) as Noa’s mother Dar, Neil Sandilands (Sweet Tooth series, The Drone 2019) as Noa’s father Koro, there is also Eka Darville (Jessica Jones series, Her Smell 2018) as Sylva, Ras-Samuel Welda’abzgi (The Clearing series, Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp 2024) as Lightning. Rounding out the chimp cast are Karin Konoval (Black Christmas 2006, The Good Doctor series) and Terry Notary (The Lost Tribe 2010, The Call of the Wild 2020); the only mainstays since after Tim Burton’s reboot, as Maurice and Rocket, the Bornean orangutan and chimpanzee in a prologue.
The humans in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes are Freya Allan (The Witcher series, Baghead 2023) as Mae; a young woman who joins Noa on his journey while having her agenda. She is given the name “Nova” by Noa and Raka. Then there is William H. Macy (Fargo 1996, Jurassic Park III 2001) as Trevathan, an opportunistic human who styles himself as Proximus Caesar’s chief advisor and teaches him human history, along with Dichen Lachman (Raya and the Last Dragon 2021, Jurassic World: Dominion 2022) as Korina, a human leader of the human satellite base.
The official synopsis reads – Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he has been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
What complicates the Planet of the Apes franchise could be chalked up to director turnaround, but also many of the actors’ and actresses’ faces do not show. All their performances are telegraphed through Active Markers technology where actors wore suits with illuminated LED markers that were captured by infrared cameras. The markers emitted their light, which increased the amount that could be captured, thus, capturing movement and emotion. With that stated, the acting is dynamic, even heartbreaking at times, as Noa starts to learn everything he has been taught as an infant about Caesar was wrong. What does he do with that knowledge, where does he go with it? Can he even rectify this warping of the truth?
Another issue that has been tackled with The Planet of the Apes franchise since 1968 is – can man and ape co-exist together. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes continues the subject; which is one of the hot topics we are facing today with immigration debates, as well as differences on the day-to-day. However, if movies we think are supposed to help us relax blur lines, and hold a mirror up to society, they could turn off some viewers.
That all stated, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes had a hefty return in theaters, and audiences seem to love it. That is why Cryptic Rock gives Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes 4 of 5 stars.
){kind=link}
No comment