First arriving on our screens in 1968, The Planet of the Apes series has been one of the most long-standing properties in Hollywood that has risen from the ashes on more than a few occasions (thanks Tim Burton), with newest addition Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes proving that you can never keep a good monkey down with another above average Summer blockbuster here for our viewing pleasure.
Set 100's of years after the events of the last entry into the series War for the Planet of the Apes, The Maze Runner and future Zelda movie overseer Wes Ball takes over the reigns here, introducing us to a whole new collection of primates and human, gifting us a visually masterful adventure film that is sure to please long term and new fans alike.
Filmed in Australia and bought to life magnificently by effects gurus Weta FX, Kingdom is one of the most visually stunning tentpole films since Avatar and its sequel upped the games across the last decade and there's no denying that Ball's film is one of only a handful of recent offerings that justify their hefty production budgets, putting such affairs as The Dial of Destiny and The Flash to shame with production values that are hard to find fault with.
From simple facial expressions, scarily accurate primate design to fully fledged The Last of Us settings, Kingdom absolutely demands the cost and effort it takes people nowadays to head to the cinema with Ball and his team creating a true feast for the senses that luckily includes likeable characters and a neatly designed story too boot, even if the films epic close to two and half hour runtime doesn't always tick along as effortlessly as you'd have liked.
Following the exploits of Owen Teague's young Noa on a cross country journey through an unforgiving and foreign landscape on a quest to rescue his fellow tribesmen and to in turn find answers about human "echoes" that become ever more real with the arrival of Freya Allan's Mae, there's nothing particularly new or ground-breaking about Kingdom's set-up/core themes but by ensuring his film doesn't just become a battle or set-piece fest, Ball has allowed his new take on the Apes formula to gestate into a different type of new addition that isn't always as predictable and formulaic as you'd expect.
Nicely building on her solid work in hit Netflix show The Witcher, Allan does fine work as the mysterious human element here but real notice must be given to the work of budding superstar Teague who excels as the softly spoken yet determined and capable Noa, while supporting turns from Kevin Durand as the films main "villain" Proximus Caesar and Peter Macon as the wise and caring Raka deserve special notice with their mo-cap work right up there with Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell from the previous trilogy of films.
While it may not reach some of the memorable heights as the three films before it, there's no doubt that with this entry Ball and his team have created a fantastic piece of groundwork to continue on the Apes brand long into the future, while at the same time gifting us one of the most impressively put together visual delights of recent times.
Final Say -
Overcoming some lull points in its epic runtime and some characters that never feel like they are fleshed out the way in which they could be, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a worthy new addition to the Apes world and a fine starting point to what is hopefully more of the same to come.
3 1/2 Roman history lessons out of 5
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)
Set 100's of years after the events of the last entry into the series War for the Planet of the Apes, The Maze Runner and future Zelda movie overseer Wes Ball takes over the reigns here, introducing us to a whole new collection of primates and human, gifting us a visually masterful adventure film that is sure to please long term and new fans alike.
Filmed in Australia and bought to life magnificently by effects gurus Weta FX, Kingdom is one of the most visually stunning tentpole films since Avatar and its sequel upped the games across the last decade and there's no denying that Ball's film is one of only a handful of recent offerings that justify their hefty production budgets, putting such affairs as The Dial of Destiny and The Flash to shame with production values that are hard to find fault with.
From simple facial expressions, scarily accurate primate design to fully fledged The Last of Us settings, Kingdom absolutely demands the cost and effort it takes people nowadays to head to the cinema with Ball and his team creating a true feast for the senses that luckily includes likeable characters and a neatly designed story too boot, even if the films epic close to two and half hour runtime doesn't always tick along as effortlessly as you'd have liked.
Following the exploits of Owen Teague's young Noa on a cross country journey through an unforgiving and foreign landscape on a quest to rescue his fellow tribesmen and to in turn find answers about human "echoes" that become ever more real with the arrival of Freya Allan's Mae, there's nothing particularly new or ground-breaking about Kingdom's set-up/core themes but by ensuring his film doesn't just become a battle or set-piece fest, Ball has allowed his new take on the Apes formula to gestate into a different type of new addition that isn't always as predictable and formulaic as you'd expect.
Nicely building on her solid work in hit Netflix show The Witcher, Allan does fine work as the mysterious human element here but real notice must be given to the work of budding superstar Teague who excels as the softly spoken yet determined and capable Noa, while supporting turns from Kevin Durand as the films main "villain" Proximus Caesar and Peter Macon as the wise and caring Raka deserve special notice with their mo-cap work right up there with Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell from the previous trilogy of films.
While it may not reach some of the memorable heights as the three films before it, there's no doubt that with this entry Ball and his team have created a fantastic piece of groundwork to continue on the Apes brand long into the future, while at the same time gifting us one of the most impressively put together visual delights of recent times.
Final Say -
Overcoming some lull points in its epic runtime and some characters that never feel like they are fleshed out the way in which they could be, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a worthy new addition to the Apes world and a fine starting point to what is hopefully more of the same to come.
3 1/2 Roman history lessons out of 5
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)