The revitalization of the Planet of the Apes franchise which began in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes and culminated with director Matt Reeves’ superb War for the Planet of the Apes, always felt like it flew under the radar. The narrative was never diminished for the sake of franchise building and while interconnected, the stories stood on their own two feet. And Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is no different. 

 

A classic sci-fi adventure, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a surprising summer blockbuster in the depth of its story and character development alongside its tremendous world building. See it on the biggest screen possible. 

 

Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader, Proximus Caesar, builds his empire, Noa, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

 

You could easily walk into Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes having never seen a Planet of the Apes film. It stands very much on its own, but interconnected with the overarching Planet of the Apes. It’s essentially an adventure film as Noa heads off from his home to rescue his tribe, encountering colorful characters and adrenaline pumping scenarios along the way. 

 

But what makes Kingdom stand out from a lot of the franchise and blockbuster films out there is the way in which it develops its characters. Without any spoilers, there are characters here that don’t fit the ‘goodie’ or ‘baddie’ stereotype. It’s all a little bit murky, with characters pursuing their cause, no matter what they have to do to get there. 

 

The action that punctuates throughout the film is edge of your seat, frenetic stuff with a sense of real peril as the characters fight off would be marauders. One scene in particular when Mae, a human, is hiding from some apes in a field is probably the most heart in your mouth chase sequence you’ll experience on the big screen this year. 

 

A classic sci-fi adventure, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a surprising summer blockbuster in the depth of its story and character development alongside its tremendous world building. See it on the biggest screen possible.