Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

 

Several hundred years after the reign of Caesar - the chimpanzee who, due to a drug meant to cure Alzheimer's became hyper-intelligent, ultimately leading him and other apes to gain the ability to speak - apes are now spread out across the planet and split into different factions. Some factions still remember the time of Caesar and his pacifistic teachings, while others have forgotten. In one such clan that has taken to falconry as a way to hunt and provide for themselves, Noa, the son of the clan's leader, ends up on the run from a rival clan led by an ape named Proximus, who attacks and destroys his own. In an effort to extract revenge on the clan for destroying his family, Noa teams up with a human girl named Mae - who has her own reasons for going against Proximus - setting up a plan to free what's left of his clan and become the leader his people need him to be and who he was born to become.

The previous trilogy of Planet of the Apes films - starting with Rise of the Planet of the Apes and ending with War for the Planet of the Apes - is hands down one of the best trilogies of films to come out in recent years, at the very least the last 25 years. As it stands War is on my shortlist of favorite films ever. The combination of a rich set of characters, beautiful scenery/cinematography, and some great storytelling made for an extremely fun experience in the theater. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (seriously, whose idea was it to make the titles for each entry in this series so dang long?) does thankfully live up to the previous trilogy, though it steers the story more into action/adventure territory instead of diving into the more philosophical elements. I found that kind of disappointing, as I enjoyed the philosophical and scientific side of things, but it didn't completely detract from the overall experience. 

As the series continues, I do have to wonder just where exactly the story can go from here, but Kingdom does have some pretty interesting twists that could result in this trilogy rivaling the previous ones in just about every aspect. I've read some reviews wondering just how this new generation of films can justify their existence since the original's twist ending had such a massive impact when it was first released, as well as the similarities in topics each story touches on. All I can say in that regards is that I personally have not seen any of the older films in the series, so for me the impact of the last four films has been pretty significant and I do think the topics have been handled really well. The way I see it, stories have been around for generations, there truly isn't a completely original storyline or lesson to be learned that hasn't been touched on in some form or another previously. That said, it is still absolutely possible to craft a story in such a way that is fully engaging and fun, as well as maybe touch on things from a viewpoint one might not have given much thought to previously. In this particular case, that is exactly what's happened. I'm personally fully invested in the story moving forward, and can't wait to see what's next.