Tripwire Reviews Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes

Noa’s Arc

Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows just reviewed Wes Ball’s Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes, in cinemas in the UK and US now…

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes
Director: Wes Ball
Stars: Owen Teague, Freya Allen, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon and Wlliam H Macy

Rupert Wyatt’s reboot from last decade, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, was a box office hit, grossing $480m internationally. That led to two sequels directed by Matt Reeves, making just over $1bn together.

Seven years on, Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes moves the action from Caesar’s reign. It is several generations later where apes are now the dominant species and humans are forced to live in the shadows. Owen Teague plays the slightly naïve Noa who encounters new demagogue Proximus Caesar (Durand), the leader of a new ape kingdom bent on accessing the human tools which will cement his reign. Unlike the late Caesar (Andy Serkis), Proximus is drunk on his own power.

So Noa finds himself accompanied by human Nova (Allen) and orangutan Roka (Macon) to find his family who have been attacked and kidnapped by Proximus’ men.

Kingdom starts a little slowly but it ramps up its action about a third of the way through. Teague’s Noa is a sympathetic and nuanced protagonist with interesting chemistry between him and human female Noa, who is pulled in a number of different directions. Macy as fellow human Trevathan offers a little bit of onscreen class here too.

Ball with the assistance of the production designer Daniel T Dorrance and cinematographer Gyula Pados has created a world that is familiar and alien at the same time. There are visual nods to the classic Planet Of The Apes, particularly in one scene where an ape on horseback drags Noa and Nova behind him as his prisoners. There is a visual grandeur and an epic sweep to Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes which helps to draw the viewer into the action.

It is a little bit overlong as it feels like the opening scene could have been tighter but once it gets moving, it is a very decent slice of sci-fi. Andy Serkis, who played Caesar in the previous run of films, was on hand as a consultant to offer advice to the actors as to how best to act within the motion capture used for the film and there is a fluidity here with the movement of the cast like Teague and Durand in their onscreen personas.

The film leaves things open for future adventures too and Ball with the assistance of Teague and co have set out a new stall for this surprisingly long-running movie franchise. It feels like it adheres to the tradition of Planet Of The Apes while still feeling modern and contemporary.

With only Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga coming to cinemas in May, Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes will have a clear run at the box office. It is a very solid start to the next chapter in the Planet of The Apes saga.

JOEL MEADOWS

Here’s the film’s trailer

Disney Reveals A Final IMAX Trailer For Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes