The Big Picture

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
combines past and present themes, creating a promising new installment in the franchise.
The film pays homage to the legacy of Caesar while exploring how the world has evolved under ape leadership.
Visually stunning with strong motion capture performances, the film sets up an ambitious new era for the Apes franchise.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes marks the tenth film in the Apes franchise, and it’s truly remarkable that this series has not only thrived over the 55+ years it’s been around, but has constantly evolved (no pun intended) in such a fascinating fashion. While the original Planet of the Apes understandably gets a lot of attention, its four sequels were ambitious, wild films that continuously pushed the boundaries of what this series could be (including people living within the earth, nuclear bombs, and time travel). The recent reboot trilogy, which included Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes, took a serious, grounded approach to these movies, and provided one of the best film series of the 2010s. As for Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake, well, that at least proved that original ideas in this world were better than just rehashing the past.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes 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.Release Date May 10, 2024

This brings us to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, a film that is starting its own series while reckoning with the legacy of that recent trilogy and paying homage to the PotA films of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Kingdom attempts to be a bridge between these two varying approaches to a Planet of the Apes film. It’s a film that attempts to follow in the footsteps of what has been done before rather than try to find its own way in. Considering how unexpectedly huge the timeline of this series has become over more than half a century, it’s not a terrible idea, but it can’t help but make Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes feel like a step back in this franchise’s evolution.

What Is ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ About?

Kingdom begins with the funeral of Caesar, following his death at the end of War. As his friends and family say goodbye, we see a large version of the diamond pattern that once decorated Caesar’s room window from Rise. This symbol has stuck with Caesar over the years, from the years he spent living with the Rodman family in Rise, all the way to actively fighting a war against the humans in War. Throughout Caesar’s trilogy, this symbol has remained an important reminder to him of where he’s come from and how far he’s come.

We then start our story many generations later, where apes have become the leaders of the planet. Kingdom primarily follows Noa (Owen Teague), a young ape whose father runs their clan of apes. After an incident with another clan of apes, led by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), Noa must go on a journey for the sake of his clan, where he meets Raka (Peter Macon), a wise orangutan who follows the teachings of the original Caesar and comes across a young human woman (Freya Allan), who begins following Noa on his journey. Not only will this quest decide the future of his clan, but it will also shake Noa’s beliefs and how he sees the world.

‘Kingdom’ Is Reckoning With the Franchise’s Legacy
Image via 20th Century Studios

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes works best when it explores its past and how the world evolves—especially when it comes to the legacy of Caesar. In the years since his rise, the aforementioned diamond pattern has almost become a religious symbol for the apes of the world. Raka worships Caesar like he was a god, testifying to any who will listen and preaching his words. Meanwhile, Proximus Caesar treats himself like a false prophet, the rightful heir to that name, while also using Caesar’s ideologies for his own sake. Yet both feel like bastardizations of what Caesar would’ve wanted, as an ape who was thrown into a world and a war that he never asked for. Kingdom’s strength is in looking at how the events of the past echo and reverberate through the years. Even the humans are called “echoes” by Noa’s tribe. When Raka decides to give the human woman a name, he calls her “Nova.” Not that this is necessarily to imply that she will become the character from 1968’s Planet of the Apes or that she’s the grown-up version of Nova from War, but rather, that the apes have always called the human women Nova.

Similarly, Kingdom evokes the past of this series to create its own original tale and the results are varied. While the two major periods of this series—the ‘60s and ‘70s era, and the recent 2010s trilogy—have taken their own approach to the idea of apes taking over the world, Kingdom attempts to link these two styles into a new series. For example, the performances and characters can’t help but evoke reminders of Caesar’s trilogy—mostly intentional—while some of the elements like humans being treated like animals, larger ape colonies, and hints at what happened to the humans in the generations since Caesar, feel like they’re taking a page from the original series run. Director Wes Ball (The Maze Runner) and writer Josh Friedman (2005’s War of the Worlds) find a good mixture of these two styles, but they can’t help but end up creating a story that is more derivative and nostalgic than necessarily taking their own approach. Granted, Rise of the Planet of the Apes—the first film in the last trilogy—was the weakest link in what became an extremely strong story, but Kingdom starts what is supposedly a new beginning off to a slightly rocky start.

Related The ‘Planet of the Apes’ Book Is Wildly Different From the 1968 Movie “Get your hands off my book, you damn dirty ape!”

Again, because Kingdom is playing with the past so directly, it’s hard not to compare Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes to what became before it, and, unfortunately, Ball’s take on the Apes isn’t as engrossing as the last run of films. Especially when Kingdom is delving into the legacy of Caesar and what his memory has become, or questioning if humans still have a place in this world and where that leaves the possibility of cohabitation with the apes, Friedman’s script just doesn’t have the depth or nuance—like those recent films—to do these ideas complete justice. It throws out these ideas in broad strokes, but doesn’t quite know where to go with them, instead, setting up for the future where these issues will likely have an even greater need for exploration. These concepts are tossed into the air, with the apparent promise that more will be done with them in the future.

Directing and Great Performances Make ‘Kingdom’ a Promising New Start

But Ball does do an impressive job at blending these two styles visually, creating interesting set pieces from the beginning all the way to an exciting conclusion. It’s almost like watching one of the ‘70s sequels with all their ambition, yet with the technology of today that can make these ideas work. It’s exciting to watch Noa and his friends swinging through the trees, trying to collect eagle eggs, or Noa confronting Proximus Caesar on his home turf. Yet, it’s the quieter moments when Kingdom is at its most riveting, like when Noa, Nova, and Raka are making their way through the wreckage of the humans’ past or having Proximus Caesar and Noa in a sit-down discussing the next phase of the ape evolution. Ball’s work with The Maze Runner series also centered around a captivating world full of bigger questions that, unfortunately, often got lost in the action, and it seems as though he’s found a better combination of these two in Kingdom. This is a shaky start, but it’s a promising one still.

And of course, as with the recent trilogy, Kingdom would be nothing without some incredible motion-capture performances from the actors playing the apes. Owen Teague does a commendable job as Noa, portraying an ape just coming of age and, like Caesar, is thrown into a situation and a conflict he didn’t ask for. But unlike Caesar, Noa doesn’t have an incredibly strong arc in this first film. As Kingdom sets Noa up to be the next great icon of this series, there isn’t quite enough there yet to make us understand why he deserves this position. Kevin Durand is an intimidating, commanding choice for Proximus Caesar, who shows how a dynamic character can become an almost religious figure, and Freya Allan manages to become a compelling human character in a franchise that has often struggled with that aspect of its story. But much like Karin Konoval’s work as Maurice in that newer trilogy, it’s the orangutan that truly stands out, as Peter Macon’s Raka is a spirited character who can take over a scene with simply the movement of his eyes or a quick reaction. In a movie full of incredible special effects and motion-capture actors, it’s Macon’s performance under all of that that makes Raka the most delightful addition to this world.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes fundamentally exists in a difficult gray zone: how does one create a film that is both reverential to the past and reckoning with the way these ideas resonate and reverberate in the later generations, while also putting its unique stamp on this world? Visually, Ball finds an intriguing middle ground between two different pasts to create his own vision, and these performances remain impressive behind the layers of computer animation, but the script leaves these characters and stories a step behind where they should be. Still, Kingdom is promising in how it sets up its own story, albeit with a start that’s a bit shaggier than recent installments. Already, there is plenty of potential for this new era of the franchise, which remains one of the most exciting and ambitious series in modern blockbuster filmmaking. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a bit of an overlong struggle with how to blend the past and this series’ future, but there’s enough here to still look ahead with bright eyes.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes REVIEWKingdom of the Planet of the Apes explores the past while creating a new future, starting this fresh angle on the series to a rocky, but promising start.ProsWes Ball does an admirable job of bridging the different eras of this franchise.The motion-capture performances remain some of the best in film.Even when the story falls short, the film remains visually stunning. ConsThe script lacks the excitement and depth that the last trilogy had.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes comes to theaters in the U.S. on May 10. Click below for showtimes near you.

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