Film review: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (12A)
Starring: Owen Teague, Freya Allen and Kevin Durrand
Run time: Two hours, 25 minutes Director: Wes Ball
Often I’ll watch a reboot of a popular film or franchise and wonder why the makers bothered - before remembering that the answer is cold, hard cash.
Think Godzilla, King Kong, Jurassic Park or last year’s Indiana Jones movie. They are usually decent efforts but leave me thinking that surely there must be people in the film industry with fresher ideas.
But the Planet of the Apes franchise is different. It has come a long way since the first film adaptation of Pierre Boulle’s novel in 1968 and the latest series of films continues to progress the story.
The current reboot started with Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011, continued with Dawn of…. In 2014, War for…. In 2017 and now Kingdom of The Planet of the Apes.
The tenth Apes film in all, it takes place 300 years after the events of the war and follows a young chimp called Noah (Owen Teague) who embarks on a journey with a young human called Mae (Freya Allen).
In a world that many would say reflects real life, Ape society has divided into many factions, some of whom have not heard of the great leader Caesar from the Rise of… film and some who have twisted and contorted his teachings, as some modern religions are accused of.
After all, the original book was a satire on the power wielded by corrupt rulers, and the franchise remains loosely political.
Meanwhile, humans are mostly a feral lot living on the fringes while a tyrannical ape leader enslaves his own kind in an effort to uncover the ultimate in lost human technology.
The storyline is a little plodding but does end up with a thrilling climax before a final scene between Noah and Mae which suggests a fifth movie may well be on the way.
By Jeremy Ransome
Rating 7/10
