
Rupert Wyatt’s 2011 film “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” managed to breathe life back into an over thirty-five-year-old franchise that cut across literary, cinematic, and comic books, television series, and other media. From the beginning, it had a compelling relatable story, as well as one that was less shallow and predictable, while also being emotional in a way that was not overly cheesy.
The story of the film’s main protagonist Caesar who is an ape and is portrayed using performance capture devices by actor Andy Serkis, who should have been recognized by the Academy for his performance, has been carried on through both sequels were both elegantly directed by Mat Reeves; the second installment, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” was released in 2014 and the third one “War for the Planet of the Apes” in 2017. This intelligent human emotionally moved Caesar was nurtured by James Franco’s character in the first film. Later on, the character managed to subdue hatred among over-class-warring and greedy sentient people to become the Alpha of Apes and fulfill his destiny as the leader of his kind, all while a world-altering virus mutated apes into a very intelligent lifeform, rendering mankind speechless and most people extinct.
Overall, the trilogy turned out to be the best of the franchises this century without succumbing to the sprawling obnoxious mega-verses and surprising audiences as to what type of films they expect from the modern-day sequels: films that actually have something interesting to say. The new film, “The Maze Runner” director Wes Ball’s most recent “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” confidently follows in the wake of this new tradition and proudly flaunts the traits of the Caesar-focused series fairness, loyalty, and community.
Similar to its predecessors, the sequel features many principles that are not human, not in this far-fetched science fiction visual fantasy. And not in the real world, where Ball\’s adventure takes place and where the animal kingdom has its own set of rules, a moral code. Once again together with his co-screenwriter Josh Friedman, who worked on the brilliant Avatar: The Way of Water, and feels quite a few visual and narrative similarities, here, Ball is working on a film that is exciting and has the most articulate action fortes. This film appears to be coherent and smoothly constructed while not sacrificing greatness in scenes. In the Kingdom, there is no such business as wasting a single idea including visually significant scenes which might feel ill-placed with no rationale however reward what the whole story is about. In other words, there are films – or rather, there are franchises – that know what smart writers and filmmakers look like. All these preparations are aimed at completing the whole picture, and not at fan service which often presents dry meeting rooms.
The time frame of the “Kingdom” passes on a number of generations, post the events of the “War” and considering the era of Caesar. The young chimpanzee siblings Noa (Owen Teague), Soona (Lydia Peckham), and Anaya (Travis Jeffery), all performance capture, of Eagle Clan well depicted in the movie start at a huge altitude where Noa tries to get an eagle egg as part of the customs of his people and hope to raise it like the elders of his land. After risking his life in a well-executed and nicely filmed adventure, the ambitious Noa is able to retrieve an egg from a nest.
However, when his eagle egg would be savior, a mysterious female human Mae, a role played by Freya Allan, who is on his tail, breaks the egg by accident, Noa goes to search and siege another egg, not knowing he has transformed his quiet dugout into a target for siege by the bad, Touched with darkness drug freak and masked apes, Henpecked by Proximus Caesar, who in 1990s was played by Kevin Durand. Proximus kills Noa’s father, decimates his village, and is hunting Mae in his pursuit after marrying her fellow who hailed, among many zealous cops, a Canadian, to boast concepts like ‘Apes Together Strong’ invented by the great Caesar.
One of the main themes of Planet of the Apes films is the psychological drama exchanged between humans and the intelligent apes with events driven by the former’s own actions. Pados exploits the advantages of action cinematically both during and throughout Proximus ambushes while structuring it interestingly to be more impactful and realistic which is quite a challenge even at the current times.
Fast forward after a rather sweet moment during which Noa bonds with a friendly orangutan, who depicts a real side of Caesar, he, together with Mae is captured by Proximus along with some other poor Eagle Clan captives who are friends of Noa’s. This human-controlled location is where William H. Macy’s character Trevathan is located, a rather educated and witty man who has been assigned to instruct Proximus about the world of humans and why it is so fascinating. With a proper notion of proleptic feeling in place, as far as Daniel T Dorrance’s work is concerned, even the last stages of the tomes serve as an auditory affair in how believable the visuals appear when finally begin looking at the world of the apes and the vault.
Starting slowly from the very beginning and developing the plot further into the awe-inspiring third act, which features astonishing images that fans of “The Way of Water” would appreciate, the film does not shy away from hinting at other chapters to come in the future. It does however seem a bit counter-intuitive since it raises questions time and again about the possibility of everlasting peace among different species. Yet possibly even more dramatically, the anti-gun and anti-violence Kingdom manages to efficiently and directly deal with the issues and disasters of contemporary society within its framework. Is there a time when it is vital to give up the belief in peace and nonviolent solutions? (One scene in particular, which some may find shocking, such as the scenario involving Mae, dares to challenge this point). Are we teaching ourselves the correct things from our experiences, if at all? Why is there so much animosity between us and why can’t we all live in peace?
Let me stress the point that “Kingdom” is not perfect. In saying that you rest assured that this rarely seen franchise in our times which is unapologetic about its similarities to others, is not one to go down without a fight.
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