The Movie: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
The Director: Wes Ball
The Cast: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy
The Story: 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.
The Rating: 8 / 10
The Review:
Ever since this franchise was restarted back in 2011 with Rupert Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, it has been at the forefront of special effects technology, mostly created by Wētā FX, so these movies are always the type of high end spectacle that you have to see on gigantic theater screens. Of course, this movie is no exception and it might actually be the best looking film in the series so far. It's always mind blowing to see how far special effects have advanced over the years going from model kit bashing and stop motion animation set in front of a blue screen to mixtures of practical and digital effects that are seamless when done right.
I really liked the fact that this movie is set many years, i think about 300, into the future of the first three movies as it gives the story a chance to breathe its own life without having the be tied down to what had just happened in the previous installment. Still, there are plenty of connections that keep a cohesiveness to the narrative and it's very interesting to see how the events of the first three movies have become biblical style tales that were reinterpreted over generations. Caesar has become a legendary and iconic savior type figure so of course, parallels can be drawn to Christianity, just not as blatantly as what the Dune movies are currently giving audiences.
The story is also very simple and not much really happens in the grand scheme of things and I'm not sure how I feel about that. This movie is, for the most part, setting things up for future movies and more stories to be told which is fine although I feel like more could have been done here to flesh out characters and introduce more ideas into the franchise. The whole thing just feels very familiar and I was left with a mix of emotions because I wanted more now instead of the promise of more to come.
Since the movie is set far into the future, we are also introduced to a whole new set of characters and that takes a lot of time and effort to digest as well. By the end of the movie, things get boiled down to certain characters that we know will be moving forward so that does help a little bit. Keep in mind, the nits that I'm picking here are very minor and the movie as a whole is very entertaining, filled with lots of great action, and a very nice way to sort of reset things to start a new trilogy. It's also nice to not really have to go back and watch the previous movies to understand what's going on with this one. There's a bit of exposition that helps to place everything within that world and then it's off to the races.
Come for the spectacle, stay for the story, and leave satisfied with yet another great installment in what is now one of the most consistently excellent franchises in modern movie history.
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