Review of 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes': an intelligent rethinking

Since Charlton Heston first laid eyes on the remains of the Statue of Liberty on a sandy beach 56 years ago, the “Planet of the Apes” movies have remained popular. Its appeal is the opportunity to explore complex characters and social issues within the franchise's allegorical representation of our world. They are not escapism, but reflection.

The best “Ape” movies offer insight into ourselves and the world we've created, and so does the latest installment, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” the tenth in the series, which manages to encompass everything. that we love. these films into an expanding story.

After the franchise ran its course in the 1970s and with Tim Burton's 2001 one-off film, screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver pulled off a reboot in 2011 with “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” Directed by Rupert Wyatt, the film featured the story of Caesar, an intelligent ape who leads an uprising, a reference to the 1972 installment “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.” Embodied by Andy Serkis in a truly remarkable motion capture performance and digitally created by artists at the New Zealand-based Wētā Workshop, the memorable Caesar was beloved by audiences, especially when his story deepened across two sequels. , “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and “War for the Planet of the Apes,” both directed by Matt Reeves.

Now, in a film set hundreds of years after the events of “War,” “Kingdom” feels like a reboot and a sequel, and a chance to start a new cycle for the 2020s. Director Wes Ball, who Previously directing the surprisingly great “Maze Runner” films, he proves to be a worthy successor to what Reeves laid out for the franchise, delivering a character-driven story that wrestles with issues of equality, morality and diplomacy, punctuated by intense action sequences. .

On this planet of the apes, the human population has been decimated and muted by the same virus that made the apes intelligent and able to speak. Our hero is young Noa (a wonderful Owen Teague), a teenage ape from the Eagle clan, who lives in harmony with nature, training large golden eagles. Noa's dreams of becoming an eagle master like his father are dashed when his village is attacked by a band of masked apes armed with cattle prods. Left for dead, Noa sets out alone in the hope of rescuing his loved ones.

It's a classic hero's journey as the naive young man leaves home and discovers the harsh truth about the world. Along the way he connects with a guide, Raka (Peter Macon, a scene-stealer), a wise orangutan who teaches him the legend of Caesar and a message of unity among the apes. When a wild human girl (Freya Allan) accompanies her, Raka encourages Noa to show her compassion; after all, she's just a dumb human.

The trio achieves a fragile unity based on Caesar's teachings, but they are soon torn apart after being captured and taken to the coastal compound of Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), a power-hungry cult leader who has twisted Caesar's words until turn them into violence and manipulation.

As he demonstrated with “Maze Runner,” Ball has a knack for depicting a kind of youthful, stylish dystopia, and the point of view and aesthetic of “Kingdom” speak to that. Written by Josh Friedman, this is a story about a young leader taken from the nest and taught how the world works in a cruel way. The scope of the storytelling and sophisticated world-building are impressive on the big screen. The remains of human civilization are covered in vegetation, presenting our own lost world in a new way. In the chaotic ape colony on the beach, the rusty hulls of enormous ships emerge from the blue waters, contrasting with red sails and white sand. There is beauty among the terror and an element of anxious unpredictability that hits our characters like waves crashing against cliffs.

But the slick show would be nothing without the characters and performances. The film gets underway with the presentation of the winning Raka and escalates with the boastful entrance of Proximus Caesar as a charismatic preacher who has turned the words of a messiah into hate. But Noa is the heart of the film, his clear green eyes rendered with such emotion by the Wētā artisans, conveying hope, horror, betrayal and, ultimately, acceptance.

Ball and Friedman's ambitious narrative is a bit overstuffed, offering a plethora of different themes to tangle with: anti-gun messages, religious metaphors, questions about our relationship with technology, individual rights. But they created an exciting world centered on a new ape that we can believe in, at least for this moment.

Katie Walsh is a film critic for the Tribune News Service.