Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he's been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
N8 reviewedOctober 10, 2024
I really liked this. The rebooted Apes franchise has been among the best and most interesting blockbusters of the last decade or so. It was on par with the previous 3 films, though on first impression this may be my least favorite by a smidge.
One of the major highlights of the movie was the exploration of all of the different cultures that emerged in the generations that followed War. I loved the detail in how each of them dealt with Caesar's legacy and the world that Humans left behind. In a sense it reminded me of Fallout, despite the massive difference in tone.
I've heard some people complain about the pacing being too slow, but a version of this movie that doesn't take the time to relish in the details is quite frankly a worse version of the movie.
The religious allegory baked into the script was quite clever. The irony of us knowing Caesar's entire story that the characters in this can't know was quite clever and made for an engaging watch.
The other highpoint of the movie for me was the visual effects. For CGI and photo realistic characters, this among the best uses of the technology that has ever been used. On a technical level the only thing on par with this is Avatar: The Way Of Water. Weta really is the best in the industry. Of course with VFX this good, you need a filmmaker who understands the technology on a deep scale, which Wes Ball certainly does.
The motion capture as well is at it's most technically advanced. The level of detail in the faces of the apes is stunning. However beneath all of the bells and whistles. Motion Capture acting is still just acting. In spite of all of the cast giving good performances, and everyone was here was good, they all fall short of Andy Serkis's legendary performance as Caesar. Although that was one of the best performances of the 21st century so far, and I won't judge anyone for not being as good.
The aspect of the movie I am most mixed on is the ending reveal of the humans in the bunkers. Quite frankly the poetic ending of War, with the might of the humanity being wiped out once and for all in that avalanche was the perfect ending for human civilization in this franchise. I can't see any future story about Humans versus Apes being as interesting as the two Reaves films. Quite frankly I would like to see this franchise explore new ground as it makes its way to the inevitable remake of the 68 movie. Kingdom certainly did explore new ground and I hope the sequels do as well. Everyone already knows how a human versus ape story will end.