Passing the torch of a film franchise from one director to the next is always a daunting task, especially if there’s a generational gap. What’s interesting about the original Planet of the Apes movies is they were products of their time (the late-1960s and early-1970s were a period of Vietnam, Watergate, and civil rights marches).
The rebooted trilogy from the past decade has allowed filmmakers and artists to successfully update author Pierre Boulle’s original concept, by transitioning from practical effects to digital performances, all while keeping the storylines engrossing and thoughtful. In retrospect, 2011’s Rise, 2014’s Dawn, and 2017’s War, strangely foreshadowed where the world would be in the not-too-distant future. (Since 2020, we’ve had to deal with a global pandemic for real.) So the themes in this larger narrative remain as (if not more) relevant than ever.
With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, director Wes Ball (The Maze Runner) picks up where Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves left off. Set 300 years after the events of War, a young chimpanzee named Noa (an engrossing Owen Teague) has much growth and knowledge to gain in his community. But when his village is attacked and taken captive by a power-hungry simian army, he goes on a quest to find his tribe and bring them back from a sadistic bonobo leader named Proximus (a commanding and chilling Kevin Durand). Along the way, he meets a wise orangutan named Raka (a wonderful Peter Macon) and a mysterious human girl named Mae (an incredible Freya Allan) with more to her than meets the eye.
The world-building of this new iteration is captivating and awe-inspiring, from the sights of algae-covered skyscrapers in ruins, to motifs of waterfalls, eagles, and telescopes and satellites (symbols of hope and communication) looking to the sky. It’s a seamless balance of visual effects (courtesy Weta) and real locations. Proximus’s “wonderful day” catchphrase even gives this series another thing in common with Mad Max.
The story of Kingdom takes on mythological and even Biblical proportions. Specifically, the idea of stories and legends from one generation that have either been forgotten or not passed on to the next. This is exemplified in two different clans of apes going toe-to-toe, physically and with conflicting worldviews and ideologies about community, laws, and how they treat or view human beings. Ditto themes of meaning, understanding, truth, trust, and honoring or dishonoring who we are and where we came from. It also begs the question (as cliché as it is): is it possible for two different species to co-exist and rebuild in a broken world?
While Kingdom doesn’t quite reach the rock-climbing heights of Reeves’ previous installments, Ball’s take manages to be both a clever homage and a jaw-dropping, subversive narrative. Some throwbacks to the 1968 original are a bit much, but Kingdom represents a full-circle event that carries on the series in some unexpected and challenging directions, regarding the roles of humanity and stewardship (or the lack of both), as well as issues of submission, conformity, and ownership. It’ll be something to see where this franchise heads next.
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