‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Review: Wes Ball’s Exciting New Chapter Proves There’s Still Life in the Franchise

Putting aside the disposable 2001 Tim Burton remake that got the 21st century Planet of the Apes franchise off to an unpromising start, the trilogy that followed found remarkable durability in material that dates back six decades to French author Pierre Boulle’s 1963 sci-fi novel. Mixing action thrills and visual spectacle with a surprisingly thoughtful challenge to the belief that humanity is the exclusive domain of man, the films are among the increasingly rare summer blockbusters to combine brawn and brains.

Confidently taking the reins from Matt Reeves and jumping ahead by several generations, director Wes Ball carries on that tradition in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Many of us couldn’t muster much interest in the Maze Runner movies, but Ball’s time on that YA trilogy has clearly sharpened his storytelling tools in terms of world-building, survival suspense and vigorous action.

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At a moment in modern history when autocratic rule is on the rise across the globe, Josh Friedman’s smart screenplay takes its cue from its recent predecessors in reflecting the politics of its time. But the movie works equally well as pure popcorn entertainment, packing its two-and-a-half-hour running time with nail-biting thrills but also allowing sufficient breathing space to build depth in the characters and story.

Bringing POTA veteran Andy Serkis on board as a special consultant has paid off with strong work from a new cast led with soulful sensitivity by Owen Teague. The performances are also a credit to stunning motion-capture technology from Peter Jackson’s Weta FX company, which worked on the three previous films. Worlds away from the actors in quaint Halloween monkey masks in the original 1968 film with Charlton Heston, the apes here have expressive features and extraordinarily lifelike movement.

While extensive CG elements seamlessly enhance the landscapes of New South Wales, Australia, standing in for America’s West Coast, the movie avoids the flat artificiality of so much recent “live-action” fare that looks more like animation. It’s not 100 percent photorealistic but it’s a close enough approximation to give the film visceral physicality and visual grandeur. Nature’s reclamation of man-made structures — dilapidated skyscrapers, planes, ships and industrial sites covered in vines and foliage — yields some striking imagery.

A brief prologue shows a solemn funeral ceremony for Caesar, the beloved ape leader played so memorably by Serkis. Onscreen text informs us that hubris led to the downfall of the human race, while a virus robbed them of their intellect and ability to speak, causing them to retreat into the shadows. The apes, by contrast, grew more intelligent, becoming the planet’s dominant species. The action begins “many generations later.”

The pulse-pounding opening introduces an inseparable trio of best friends on the cusp of adulthood: Noa (Teague), Soona (Lydia Peckham) and Anaya (Travis Jeffery), as they scale mountainous stretches of forest looking for eagle eggs. Attempting the most daring climb, Noa narrowly escapes a fatal fall. Their rule is that they always leave one egg behind in the nest, establishing early on that moral codes are “written” into their upbringing as law.

The three young chimpanzees belong to the Eagle Clan, a thriving community built around a massive multi-story tower constructed out of tree branches and logs, where Noa’s father Koro (Neil Sandilands), known as Master of Birds, oversees the eagles that protect the apes and hunt for food. The clan’s traditional rite of passage, called “bonding,” requires each ape to nurture an egg until hatched, making the eaglet their lifelong companion and becoming experts in falconry.

But Noa soon discovers a threat to the community’s peaceful existence. First, he sees a young human female (Freya Allan, terrific) stealing food (love the clan’s fish smokehouse). Then while out on a solo foray beyond Eagle Clan boundaries, he finds a group of slaughtered apes and witnesses further bloodshed carried out by ape warriors on horseback wearing face armor.

It emerges that the killers are the troops of Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), a bellowing bonobo despot who twists the ideals of his namesake to serve his quest for absolute power. When an attack on the Eagle Clan village leaves Noa separated from his community, he sets out on a classic hero’s journey across unknown territory to find the abducted apes, dodging Proximus Caesar’s goons in close calls along the way. Noa’s growing understanding of himself, his insecurities and his courage, adds emotional heft to his trajectory.

He acquires a companion in wise old orangutan Raka (Peter Macon), a devout follower of the original Caesar’s teachings, who convinces him to let the human who has been trailing them tag along. Her name is eventually revealed to be Mae, and despite her initial appearance as a feral waif (think Newt in Aliens), she turns out to be an intelligent and resourceful young woman.

The “kingdom” of the title is Proximus Caesar’s coastal colony, where a multitude of enslaved apes labor in a futile quest to break open a huge iron vault. Proximus Caesar, who has been schooled in human history by an opportunistic member of that shunned species, Trevathan (William H. Macy), is convinced the vault contains all of mankind’s information and technology. He believes that accessing it will consolidate his rule and accelerate ape evolution.

The movie’s final act turns up the tension as Noa, reunited with lost friends and family, plots with Mae to thwart Proximus Caesar’s plan by destroying the vault and its contents. But Mae is revealed to have her own agenda, stoking inter-species mistrust (Teague and Allan effectively convey that mutual wariness) and paving the way for future developments, should the franchise continue. It also delivers on an action level, with Proximus Caesar’s army, led by fearsome silverback thug Sylva (Eka Darville), pursuing Noa and the reassembled Eagle Clan through a vast satellite communications facility before a violent showdown.

Working with editors Dan Zimmerman and Dirk Westervelt, Ball knows when to put his foot on the accelerator in a movie with no shortage of adrenaline. He and writer Friedman could perhaps have taken more care over a few fuzzy story points here and there: How did Proximus Caesar come to believe the vault was such a trove of knowledge? Why does it take almost the entire movie to clarify that Noa and Soona are not siblings? But the fast pace is reward enough. That’s not to say the film lacks quiet interludes, with the exchanges between Noa and the profoundly decent and compassionate Raku among the most poignant.

Cinematographer Gyula Pados, who shot Ball’s last two Maze Runner entries, brings muscularity and hyper-agility to the visuals, which include some awe-inspiring scenic wonders, while John Paesano’s full-bodied orchestral score propels things along with a robust emotional charge. Fans of the franchise should find much to enjoy in this very solid new installment, which points the way forward to a potential new recalibration of the human-ape balance.