KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – The Red Right Hand Movie Reviews [Matthew Stogdon]

Starring
Owen Teague
Freya Allan
Peter Macon
Kevin Durand

After an undisclosed amount of years following the events of War For The Planet Of The Apes, different pockets of ape-led society has sprung up. But, with this discordant and disconnected spread, the truth of Caesar and how apes came to be dominant has fallen away. As such, we are introduced to a group of chimpanzees known as the eagle clan – named for their rearing and nurturing of eagles. Noa [Teague] is preparing for a coming of age ceremony when his village is attacked and raided. Left for dead, Noa sets out to discover who kidnapped his people, and the mystery behind the human woman, Mae [Allan], who has been following him.

It’s fair to say that Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes was a shock. Very few people thought it would be as entertaining or engaging as it ended up being. But, in truth, it was only when Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and War For The Planet Of The Apes rounded off the trilogy, that it was made clear how exceptional these films have been. That said, there was a sole question hanging heavy over the franchise: can it endure as strongly without the Caesar narrative and Matt Reeves’ grounded direction? And the answer was to craft an emotional connection with new characters, while outlining a tale of legend and legacy. Meaning on the one hand, we have a straightforward, slow-burn hero’s journey odyssey through this new land, and on the other, a look at how the words and actions of those long dead can be manipulated and twisted to serve a new purpose. For those reasons alone, many Apes fans will love this movie. But, there are a few issues that cut Kingdom down somewhat.

But before we get to that, we have to continue the time-honoured tradition of reminding you all that these movies are technical marvels. Granted, there is the occasional over-reliance on CGI locations and setups that make the film feel too animated. But, for the most part, the stellar visuals continue to be standout. From the carefully crafted performances to the enhancement by digital artists through motion capture, each and every ape on-screen is a wonderfully fleshed out and compelling character. And while Michael Giacchino is missed, John Paesano helps continue the franchise trend of a brass and drum heavy score, reminiscent of the 60s originals.

As an opening chapter to (one assumes) a new trilogy, the four central characters for us to focus on are Noa, Mae, Raka and Proximus Caesar. And your enjoyment of this movie may depend on one of them explicitly. To explain, Noa is a very generic hero boy (albeit an ape). He is the son of his community’s eagle trainer, and therefore has a lot of expectations and plenty of daddy issues. He has a love interest, a bumbling friend, and a doting mother. He’s a frustrated youth but pure of heart and determined to stand up to do the right thing for his people. That right there is hero 101 material and, for some, bland as hell. But Teague manages to push through this and creates a compelling performance. Raka [Macon], the wise old orangutan, is a disciple of Caesar and serves as Noa’s moral compass, as well as exposition historian. And finally we have Proximus Caesar [Durand], the movie’s central antagonist, who is both charming and dangerous in equal measure; although doesn’t actually appear on screen for a surprising amount of time.

Finally, we have Mae. Without going too deep into spoilers yet, Noa’s tribe refer to humans as ‘echos’ – mute, scavenger-like pests that keep to their side of the valley. But Mae is clearly different and has an agenda of her own. In terms of performance, Allan does exactly what is asked of her, no more, no less. And it’s clear the script is setting her up as a fairly ambiguous figure. Ally? Adversary? Who’s to say?

**spoilers throughout the next two paragraphs**
To get into the minutiae of the issues Kingdom faces, we have to address a few spoiler-heavy developments. Firstly Raka. As stated, this story can be very straightforward and follow a somewhat generic template, even down to meeting the kindly old sage who expands our hero’s understanding and world view. To clarify, I have no problem with Raka being one of the few surviving remnants of Caesar’s teaching. He adds some much needed levity, as well as a good companion and guide for Noa. My problem is the need to sacrifice the character – which felt somewhat unnecessary considering we already had so many parental figures being sacrificed as plot motivation. What’s more I feel audiences were robbed of some truly interesting discourse between Raka and Proximus.

Earlier I mentioned one example of character execution could hamper audience enjoyment. That’s Mae. As we went from Rise to Dawn to War, the human element became more and more distant from the central characters. While that’s true here, Mae’s appearance raises a few immediate questions. Despite being potentially hundreds of years after the collapse of mankind, Mae’s knowledge of the old human world feels unearned. Which is made worse when the movie closes on a fairly open ended conclusion that sets the franchise back to generate an air of conflict and reason for this story to take place, owing to the fact that it’s still a series of prequels. Which ultimately signals that the film has little faith in simply telling a story about ape civilisation without stringing in a semi-unsatisfactory human element.

Overall, Kingdom feels a touch over indulgent and could have been refined down by a good 30 mins to tell a more focused, lean story. Especially as it’s missing integral heart and focus, and the biting edge present in previous instalments is all but gone. That said, Kingdom doesn’t feel entirely out of place in this franchise and does its best to tell a gripping and engrossing story.

Release Date:
10 May 2024

The Scene To Look Out For:
By following the hero’s journey to the letter, Kingdom is essentially a sea of vignettes and captivating action sequences. That said, few stand out as much as I would want them to and every time something springs to mind, it’s clear it was introduced as a very obvious formulaic piece of setup or foreshadowing. For the average viewer, that won’t matter but when you can see the formula and pattern, everything just comes together a little too neatly. Case in point, the final showdown between Noa and Proximus is 100% fitting and feels thematically and visually wrapped up. But, ultimately, it also comes off as obvious and rushed – slightly robbing the moment of its weight.

Notable Characters:
I’m always impressed by the lengths the Apes actors go through to embody their characters. Nowhere is that clearer than Durand as Proximus, who feels like an earned adversary. As a bonobo chimp, he’s not the tallest, most powerful, or most intelligent, but he has forged a path for unity based on records of the Roman empire and that makes him a fascinating villain.

Highlighted Quote:
“For Caesar.”

In A Few Words:
“While not hitting the heights of the franchise, Kingdom is still an entirely worthy entry to the series.”

Total Score: 3/5

Linked Reviews