Shaz’s review published on Letterboxd:
“What a wonderful day!”
I have basically seen every Planet of the Apes movie (besides Battle) and I can say that I am a fan of this franchise. But the main aspect that resonates with me the most is the 2011-2017 trilogy which this one follows up. Rise, Dawn and War are some of my favourite movies of all time and have played a massive role in my tween years. What Andy Serkis, Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves brought to the character and story of Ceaser was nothing short of awe inspiring. A truly empowering and enthralling hero’s journey which cemented Ceaser as one of the best characters ever and this trilogy as one of the best in recent memory. So going into this I was very curious as to what could be next in this franchise and what Wes Ball, whose Maze Runner trilogy I have a soft spot for, could bring to the table….and what I got was very solid!
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a welcome breath of new life for this series. We go forward a couple of generations forward from where War ended, I was honestly surprised how natural of a follow up this was. Obvious stuff out of the way, the visuals and effects were spectacular and you can feel Wes’s Maze Runner flare throughout whilst feeling small ounces of what Reeves gave us. This new setting was glorious to look at, so much life into every location and scene, and how could I not mention the VFX work here? As top notch as it was with the original trilogy! Like I said, everything felt so alive and that’s what helped in breathing new life in this film.
The story itself may feel a bit safe and testing the waters for the trilogy itself but it’s still very good regardless. Noa is a great protagonist who has an interesting coming of age arc and has so much more to learn. I do like the angle this storyline takes regarding how it follows up Ceaser’s trilogy, as it shows the impacts of his legacy generations into the future. It does take its time in showcasing this world and it does feel like a good 20 mins can be trimmed but regardless it is extremely engaging and immersive. I also like how we finally see the Apes’ language fully developed and their culture properly established and very close to how it is in the original 1968 movie. But in general it’s a classic traditional tale of a naive hero that you love to pull for, setting the foundation of a trilogy that I am super excited to see the rest of.
With all that said, and this all comes to personal feelings, I just couldn’t really shake off the feeling that there was just something missing in this film that was in that trilogy. With everything positive I described, all the aspects here I just couldn’t help but think “okay this is good but not the same as the Wyatt/Reeves movies”. Rise, Dawn and War had so much depth, heart and finesse that sadly I just couldn’t feel here. Again, I’m not saying this invalidates what this movie is on its own but to be it just feels like a downgrade. The story here works a lot but again, it does feel surface level and that it’s threading a bit safely to set the stage for the second and third movie, I’d get that but then again seeing what Rise was I do think this one could’ve been a bit more confident in pushing things in a bolder direction. Again this is all personal taste and I do think this will end up being a great trilogy, I do generally really dig Wes Ball and will be there for what he has in store.
Mini vent aside, I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. Some underwhelming feelings aside, it does join the resurgence of atmospheric and sincere Sci-Fi films such as Avatar The Way of Water, the Dune movies, I cannot wait to see the rest of this interesting trilogy!
