Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) (Movie Review)

 Following after the hit “Planet of the Apes” revival trilogy that began with “Rise” in 2011, and concluded with “War” in 2017, the franchise was faced in two options … quietly fade away or return with another jump-start film in a couple years. To my surprise, only seven years later in 2024, we got “Kingdom of the Plant of the Apes”, which was still in cannon with the previous trilogy, but the launching pad for a new narrative with new characters. I really didn’t know if the franchise could pull off four good movies in a row … but they did just that. This was another admirable “Apes” adventure, which manages to continue the franchise forward with likable new characters, and new narrative possibilities.

  Several generations after the death of the mighty ape Caesar, individual ape factions and colonies have taken on their own rules and ways of living. Some honor the noble legacy of Caesar, while others are twisted by the ways of new leaders, who have reconstructed Creaser’s legacy as a tyrannical one. One particular tribe called “the Eagle Clan”, have all but forgotten Caesar, and follow the ways of their elders, which put them at odds with the changing world around them. 

The son of the Chief is Noa, whose efforts to grow in status unintentionally draw a rivel clan of savage apes to their camp. After murdering the Chief in the name of a new Caesar named Proximus and abducting the tribe to become slaves to serve the ape monarch, Noa sets off on a journey to rescue his family. Along the way, he meets an elderly Orangutan, who teaches Noa the ways of the real Caesar, and through his guidance may help bring the apes back together in a new age of unity. The last member to go on the journey is a young human woman called Mae, who at first glance looks like a lost individual in need of a family but is secretly on her own mission to benefit the last surviving humans.

  In many ways, this is a classic medieval tale in a post-apocalyptic, Science Fiction setting. We have the young warrior driven away from home, the wise elder and skilled survivor met on the journey, and the tyrannical overlord who needs to be conquered in a mighty revolt. It’s a familiar formula, one I’m quite fond of, and thanks to the change of setting, and a likeable cast of characters, it allows the formula to work on its genuine strengths, even when covering predictable grounds. There’s also a fair amount of mystery between character goals, and where the destination leads, which again helps keep the formula engaging. In general, I love walk-abouts in post-apocalyptic settings, and this film is briming with personality in the details. It looks gorgeous, with familiar architectural landscapes undone by nature. Also, unlike so many Sci-Fi pictures with this manner of setting, the film is very colorful and absorbing with its imagery.

 The ape effects are stunning as usual, and like all the previous films, received an Oscar nomination for Best Special Effects. However, beyond the visuals, it’s the personalities of the characters that make these apes feel real. Our lead Chimpanzee hero Noa, played by Owen Teague, hits the expected beats of a youthful character thrusted out into a larger world, with faults to conquer, but with a fine mix of skills and values already at hand, and room to grow and mature. The wise elder Orangutan Raka, played by Peter Macon, is my favorite character, and owns every scene with both a sense of comforting wisdom, and a welcome sense of humor. The human woman named Mae, played by Freya Allan is one of the film's most compelling characters, as she flips between a sympathetic and loyal friend, to being a shady wild card with her own goals.

  The only other human character to note is Trevathan, played by William H. Macy, who aims to stay on good terms with the malevolent ape rulers, and tries to manipulate Mae into serving them. Our lead villain is the Chimpanzee Proximus Caesar, who rules over any ape tribe he can abduct and force to serve his bidding. His main goal is to breach a human stronghold, and obtain whatever treasures or weapons lay dormant inside. He’s played by Kevin Durand, and despite coming late into the picture, he steals the show with his intellectual wit, and theatrical personality. Less compelling is a ruthless Gorilla General called Sylva, played by Eka Darville. He’s initially set-up as Noa’s arch rivel, the one who killed his father and set all the events in motion. However, he’s absent through most of the film’s third act, and his final confrontation with Noa doesn’t feel as satisfying as it should.  

  The climax is set within the human stronghold, which gets flooded, and further tensions mount with double crosses between various characters, who are all scrambling to get out. The final showdown between Noa and Proximus is riveting and builds to a very satisfying conclusion. The film also closes on a strong note, in which Noa succeeds in bringing a sense of unity to his fellow apes, but his future relationship with the surviving humans is ambiguous, especially when a distress call reaches larger pockets of surviving humans, which may open the door for more conflicts.     

  While “Kingdom” doesn’t break any new ground or reach the same emotional heights of the previous films, it is consistently strong with its presentation and has a comfortable place among the better offerings of this long running franchise. So far, I’d say it’s the instalment with the most straightforward enjoyment factor. I love the “hero journey” formula, the characters are likable, the action is fun, the film looks wonderful, and it sets the stage for a potentially strong new stories to come, while still keeping the quality of its predecessors intact.

Thanks for reading my review of the 2024 Sci-Fi sequel “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” … and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) (Movie Review)

 Following the high marks of not just one, but two critically acclaimed films in a franchise is no easy task, but somehow 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” escaped the curse of the mediocre third installment and became yet another smash hit for the series. It’s been widely regarded by both fans and critics as the best of the new Ape trilogy, and possibly the first in the franchise to truly match the original 1968 classic. Weather this film surpasses the original “Planet of the Apes” can certainly be debated, but one thing that can’t be argued is that the two-thousand-teens Ape series completely surpasses the first Ape film series of the 1970’s by a mile. 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” brought the series back to form, 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” went the extra mile, and now 2017’s "War for the Planet of the Apes" brings everything together with great finality. This really is one of those rare perfect film trilogies where every film is consistently good, and there’s a solid beginning, middle and end to the story. While I personally still like “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” the most, “War for the Planet of the Apes” is undeniably a worthy sequel and can be labeled as one of the better installments in the Ape legacy.

 One little detail I loved right off the bat was that in the opening, the 20^th Century Fox logo was colorfully set to drum-beats from the film. We then get texts that recap the state of events from the past two films, how they lead into “War”, and the text themselves colorfully highlight the titles of each instalment, which may be corny, but I love it. Basically, when the Simien Flu first broke out, it killed off most humans, and increased intelligence in the apes. Now, following an attack lead by the evil ape Koba, military forces are retaliating with magnum force. While Caesar, ruler of the apes succeeded in defeating Koba, he couldn’t stop the war from ragging between his kind and the remaining humans who aim the re-concur the planet. After a surprise attack from a rouge human colonel, both Caesar’s son and wife are tragically killed, which lead Caesar on a new quest to seek revenge against their killer. Over time, Caesar becomes more heartless, his ape followers fear that he’s becoming just like Koba, and Caesar himself begins having ghostly visions of Koba coming to him. As their journey continues, the apes find an orphaned little girl who’s mysteriously lost her ability to speak. It’s soon revealed that the Simien Flu has now mutated and is de-humanizing all the people, to the point where they can no longer remember how to talk. This turn of events only makes the humans all the more desperate to wipe out the apes, leaving Caesar with an ethical debate to either pursue vengeance, or lead the other apes to freedom from their oppressors.

  For the first hour and a half I was absolutely in love with this film. I said in my last review of “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” that I’d be happy watching a film focusing solely on these apes, with no human characters at all, because the apes themselves are just so much more fascinating to watch. In this sequel, that’s mostly the case because all the attention is on Caesar, his ape followers and their journey. In fact, the mute girl is really the only human hero of the whole film. Once again, I loved being with these ape characters, I loved their separate community, I loved their interactions, which are mostly told through visuals and little dialogue. I love the individual personalities of these different ape characters, I love the body language, and they can surprisingly convey a lot of real human emotion. The motion capture effects for these apes are easily the best of these films thus far. They look stunning, with excellent detail, and even though I knew they were creatures crafted in a computer, they just felt so real. Andy Serkis makes his third and final appearance as Caesar, and he once again kicks it out of the park. Obviously, he’ll never win an Oscar for his work, but he really should, as there’s so much more to this performance than simply his motion captured body movement. His inflections, and his tone of voice carry so much wait that he just commands the screen with a real presence. The film did at least receive an Oscar nomination for Best Special Effects, but I'm surprised it didn't get more recognition than that.

 The other ape performances deserve a lot of credit too, and many stand apart as memorable characters in their own way. I’ve always loved the orangutan named Maurice, as he’s been the gentle soul of the group, Caesars closest friend and the only other character to appear (at least physically) in all three films. I especially love the sound design for Maurice, which is just the gentlest deep ape sound I’ve ever heard. This film introduces us to a new ape character named Bad Ape, and basically, he’s in this film just for comedic relief. This character could have stood out as an announce, but he’s so unavoidably lovable that he makes for a mostly welcomed presence in an otherwise depressing war drama. At last we have the little mute girl named Nova, which is a call back to the grown mute woman from the original classic. Personally, it felt like unneeded fan serves to give this child the exact same name as the original female lead, but putting that aside, I absolutely loved the inclusion of this character. It’s hard to explain, but there’s something touching about seeing these war hungry apes take this little girl in as one of their own and form their own distinct connections with her. Honestly, some of my favorite moments in the whole film are the little moments between this girl and the different ape characters. They have cute moments, sad moments, touching moments and they give the film this warm aura that I never felt in any of the previous movies.

  I should note that for a movie titled “War for the Planet of the Apes”, there's very little “War” on display. Honestly, I think this film has less action sequences then the five previous ape’s movies, which really isn’t a problem, so long as the movie is good. It's just that “War” doesn’t really fit with the title at all. There’s a thrilling battle sequence at the beginning of the movie, which sets the tone, but then all the other action is pushed to the background. This was a very bold move focusing more on characters, internal drama, emotional highlights and for the most part it pays off. Like I said, I loved the first hour and a half of this movie, but then things change once we segue into the film's final act. The movie doesn’t exactly go downhill, and it’s by no means bad, it’s just that from this point on I was no longer loving the experience the way I initially was. At this point in the film, Caesar along with the majority of his apes are taken prisoner by the military, and become slaves forced to make a giant wall. This is also where the antagonistic Colonel played by Woody Harrelson takes center stage as a main character. While the performance is solid, I can’t help but feel that there’s a deeper laired antagonist that’s buried under a cliched, tough soldier stereotype.

  It’s hard to describe, but there’s something lifeless about this prison camp setting. Before hand, I felt like I was going on a journey with these fascinating characters, I was seeing things explained though visuals and it just felt like we were building to something special. All that changes at the camp, as things are now explained in long winded dialog scenes, the characters aren’t really being developed, and the film no longer feels like it’s building, instead it’s just in limbo. Also, when compared to the previous two films in this trilogy, I felt that both “Rise” and “Dawn” had their own distinct identities that felt different from anything else I’d experienced in these ape films. “War” certainly begins with a unique identity, as it focuses solely on the ape characters, but this camp setting robbed the film of its uniqueness. Now it just felt like a hybrid of other films like “The Ten Commandments”, “Apocalypse Now”, “Schindler's List”, and “The Great Escape”. It’s also at this point that I felt the visual symbolism was getting a little too on the nose. There’s some heavy-handed slavery imagery, and obvious religious metaphors, most notably is Caesar being tied up to this post with his arms stretched out to resemble Jesus Christ on the cross.  

  At the end, the apes make their daring escape from the camp, but Caesar stays behind for one last confrontation with the Colonel. Upon visiting his courters, Caesar discovers that the Colonel has been infected by the Simien Flu, has lost the ability to speak, and in his last moments shoots himself in the head, which rob Caesar of his own personal vengeance. Then a second group of humans launch an attack on the camp, which could be regarded as the final battle, but it’s mostly a backdrop to the apes escaping the prison. There’s some apes allied with the humans, who up till this point have been enemies, but during the attack they aide Caesar at the coast of their own lives. At last, Caesar leads his clan of apes to the land of milk and honey, where they can begin anew. Unfortunately for Caesar, he suffered fatal wounds during the escape and quietly passes away, just as his followers reach safe haven. It’s another religious metaphor akin to Moses, who led the slaves out of Egypt to the promised land, but due to his sins, he could not enter it himself.   

  Being completely honest, of the three new ape movies, I loved “War for the Planet of the Apes” the least, but it’s still a strong conclusion to the trilogy. The effects are more stunning than ever before, it leaves an emotional impact, and there’s even a poignant narrative to the conclusion of the story. I can’t imagine watching this film as frequently as the previous ape movies, but that’s just due to personal taste. I wasn’t too fond of the film's final act, and I could have used a little more kick for a closing chapter, but the film still dose everything a final chapter should do. It brings finality to Caesar’s journey, and I think Fox should just stop with the ape's films for some time. This was just the right way a series should close, and the trilogy as a whole was a perfect revitalization for a long dead franchise.

Thanks for reading my review of the 2017 sequel “War for the Planet of the Apes” ... and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!      

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) (Movie Review)

  After the smashing success of “Rise of the Plant of the Apes”, a sequel seemed unavoidable, but I honestly had no idea if this would be another cash grab sequel, or something really special that could surpass the quality of its predecessor. Thankfully, the 2014 sequel titled “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” completely surpassed my mild expectations and turned out to be a really good sequel indeed. For my money, it’s not just better than its predecessor, it’s easily my favorite entry in the whole series and I think it has the potential to go down in film history as one of the great classic Sci-Fi sequels like “Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Kahn” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”. This is just another perfect example of how an old and deflated franchise can still stand proud, tall and alive after so many failures.

 The movie begins with a recap of the events from “Rise of the Plant of the Apes”, regarding the ape rebellion and the virus that’s wiped out most of the planet's population. By the way, this opening scene is awesome and helps set the tone with some captivating visuals. Almost a decade has past sense then and now human civilization is completely destroyed following martial law, civil unrest and the economic collapse of every country in the world. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the ape Caesar rules his own peaceful Kingdome where apes have built their own civilization in the wilderness. Not far away is a small town full of surviving humans that need power and electricity to survive. The only thing that can save them is a hydroelectric dam that’s deep within ape territory. A small team of humans go in to make a temporary peace treaty with the apes to restore power to their homes. Caesar agrees to help the humans in the struggle, hoping that in some way this small action can lead into a new area of peace without further bloodshed. As you’d expect, things don’t go well for either party as some vengeful humans want the apes trampled underfoot and another ape named Koba betrays Caesar, leading his ape army in a revolt against the humans, and escalates into massive war.   

 Just like its predecessor, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” elevates itself a notch above mindless entertainment. While there’s certainly thrilling action segments, the movie takes it’s time establishing the characters, building tension, and raising deep questions which allow the audience to think just enough while still being very entertained at the excitement of seeing a machine gun wilding ape on a horse charging at a tank. Yes, the action scenes are riveting spectacles, but there’s just enough intelligence and emotional resonance that help balance that out. With all those silly, over blown and brainless “Transformers” movies that came out at the time, it made me feel very pleased to see filmmakers but real effort and care into a Sci-Fi blockbuster such as this. The buildup in the first half of the movie is fantastic as your dreading a possible war on the horizon, and the story had enough smart twists and turns that kept it from getting too predictable. The effects for the most part are sensational, even getting an Oscar nomination for Best Special Effects, but there are some select moments when some things look a little too cartoony, like this one shot of a heard of dear that are being hunted down by the apes. 

 One of the first things I loved about this movie right off the bat were the apes and their culture. I’m so glad that they weren’t just monsters for the humans to fight, their intellectuals, they have feelings, and they can reason with one another. I also like that they only speak every once in a while, most of the time they speak through sign language, which is great. Honestly, I could watch these ape characters all day in their civilization and be perfectly satisfied. Of course, Andy Serkis returns in the lead role of Caesar and delivers another Oscar worthy performance, even though he’s a motion capture performer. The character of Caesar has never been more awesome then in this movie. Every time Caesar’s on screen he just commands your attention, and personally I think he belongs among some of the great iconic Sci-Fi characters like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator or Peter Weller’s “Robocop”. 

 The human characters are just good enough, although not as memorable as most of the other human characters from the series. Nevertheless, the actors give solid performances, the humans have great chemistry with the apes and the main human character named Malcolm is compelling enough to care for. Garry Oldman plays the leader of the human survival group, and once again, I’m so glad the writers didn’t make him the stereotypical human bad guy. This is a character we actually get to feel sympathy for, and he’s compassionate enough to take a peaceful wrought before resorting to violent actions against the apes. Even though Garry Oldman’s part in the movie is small, he still plays it like he’s trying to win an Oscar.

  Even the villain ape named Koba is really good, and easily the best villain of the whole series. This character was featured back in “Rise of the Plant of the Apes” as a victim on scientific experiments, and now he’s out for vengeance. While he’s a monstrous beast that does horrific things, his motivations are perfectly understandable. It doesn’t excuse his actions, but at least he isn’t a one note bad guy the same way General Thade was in the 2001 “Planet of the Apes” remake. At the climax of the film, Koba challenges Caesar to a duel for leadership of all the apes, and it’s a riveting finale.      

 Overall, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is a fantastic follow-up to a great franchise reboot, and even surpasses it with a consistently engaging premise, lots of high-stake action and fantastic characters ... both human and ape alike. It’s also very refreshing that this film doesn’t lose itself with one too many nods to the original the same way the previous movies did. It’s a sequel that can stand on its own, and just like the original “Planet of the Apes” movie, it can easily stand the test of time as an ambitious, yet deeply exciting Sci-Fi achievement.     

Thanks for reading my review of the 2014 sequel “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” ... and continue to enjoy the movies you Love! 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) (Movie Review)

 

 The 2001 remake of “Planet of the Apes” was intended as a jumpstart to a second series and more sequels were supposed to be made. However, that film turned out to be such a critical and commercial disaster that all other sequels were canceled. Yet, 20th Century Fox still saw a lot of profit in the franchise and decided to reboot it in another contemporary presentation. The end result is the 2011 movie titled “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, and to get right to the point … this is one of the rare franchise reboots that surpassed expectations and is on par with the qualities of the original classic. Personally, I like this one a little more, and unlike the 2001 picture, this film offered a different experience that wasn’t aiming for cheap B-movie thrills. So, let’s look back and see how this unassuming reboot transformed a once failing franchise into one of the greatest of the decade.

  James Franco plays a scientist named William Rodman, who believes he discovered a cure for Alzheimer’s. He tests his drug on a female ape that was with child, and the mother was tragically killed shortly after, but the effects of the drug pass on to the infant. Dr. William takes the youthful ape in his care and names him Caesar. Over time, the two form a strong friendship, but after an unfortunate accident, Caesar is taken to an animal control center where he’s locked away with other apes. The longer he stays there, the more Ceasar dislikes humans, gives his fellow caged apes the same brain drugs given to his mother, and becomes a leader in an ape rebellion. It’s almost like a soft remake of the 1972 sequel “Conquest of the Planet of the apes”, right down to the ape Caesar being the ringleader in an ape rebellion, but there are significant changes in the details.

 This movie could have easily been just another campy installment in the series, but through some competent writing, focusing on characters, subtle emotional beats, and even a fair amount of substance, this film went the extra mile in taking a predictable backstory, and transforming it into an engaging experience. Like the original, the film serves as an effective warning story about the dangers of science and how a medical breakthrough may seem like mankind’s greatest accomplishment, when in reality it becomes our downfall. While the movie doesn’t quite dive into the realms of really deep or thought-provoking questions, it does at least bring up some important issues. How far should we go to try and perfect something that was never meant to be in our control, can we handle that responsibility, is this human progress or are we just opening Pandora’s Box. Issues like this elevate this movie above just another campy Sci-Fi.

 The cast of characters likewise elevate the quality of the picture. James Franco delivers a genuine and honest performance as the good doctor. The remaining cast members including Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton and David Oyelowo all play their parts quiet well. 

However, the star who completely steals the show surprisingly isn’t one of human actors, instead it’s Andy Serkis in his motion capture portrayal of the ape Caesar, who keeps you completely captivated throughout the entire picture. Despite being a special effect, so much character and personality come from his simple body movements and posturing that it feels like a genuinely human performance, in fact many people suggested that he be the first CGI actor in history to be nominated for the best actor award. Of course, Andy Serkis is no stranger to this craft and has played a number of memorable CGI characters, including Golem from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and is also known for playing "King Kong" in the 2005 remake. The remaining apes in the film are also motion captured performances, and it’s a unique change from the makeup that characterized the original films. Naturally, this film received a nomination at the Academy Awards for Best Special Effects, making it the first ape movie to receive Oscar recognition sense the original. While I prefer practical makeup, the digital effects looked really good and would only get better with each film to follow. 

  My favorite aspect of this film by far is its completely different perspective of the wild animal on the loose genera. In most animal attack movies, the wild animal is always the monster that needs to be killed in order for the humans to live, but in this film, it’s not so one-sided. Despite what you may think from seeing the trailer, the apes don’t try to dominate humans, their goal is simply to liberate themselves from the captivity of humankind. In fact, they try their best not to kill anyone, they only kill in self-defense and even in that respect there’s nothing pleasant about it. There’s a moment when Caesar defends himself against the bully character, which unintentionally takes his life, and you can tell from the reaction on Caesar’s face that it really hurt him deep down to take a life. As an interesting result, you find yourself cheering for the apes. Even though you naturally don’t want to see the humans trampled underfoot, this film really gets you to care for the ape characters, and it makes the action all the more engaging. 

 On that note, the action is used sparingly, but when it happens, it's in serves of the characters and story, which makes it superior to other Blockbusters that simply go for spectacle without any substance. Even with the reserved action, the pacing is consistently strong and maintains momentum as we watch our characters go through their different peaks and low points. The climactic battle on the Golden Gate Bridge is now a hall mark for the franchise and might just be my favorite set-piece of the series. When all the action calms down, the film hits us with one more surprise ... a biological various accidently gets unleashed, and effects humans across the globe. The apes are immune to it, naturally setting the stage for them to become the dominate species on the planet without the need to go into battle.              

  If I had any reservations with this film, it would be one call-back too many to the classic movies ... I'm really sick of that trend, and at times this movie threatened to buckle with its forced "member berries". Aside from that, this is one of the best entries in the series by a mile, and a benchmark in franchise reboots done right. It has impressive special effects and action, but it works as a genuinely good film, with characters that hold your attention, and a story that keeps you guessing what the outcome might be. It’s the kind of film I hope Hollywood would make more of ... literally a film that can have its cake and eat it too. It succeeded in giving a dormant franchise new life and set the stage for the "Planet of the Apes" series to be one of the best Science Fiction franchises in the decades to come.

Thanks for reading my review of the 2011 Sci-Fi picture “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” … and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!