Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Synopsis: Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he's been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
Director: Wes Ball
Stars: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon & William H. Macy
Runtime: 2 hours 25m
Genre: Sci-Fi Action
The Planet of Apes trilogy, Rise, Dawn and War of the Planet of Apes, was one of the most critically acclaimed and successful trilogies of recent years. Taking over from Matt Reeves (who directed Dawn and War) this latest entry, is directed by Wes Ball, most famous for The Maze Runner trilogy. Ball pitched this movie as Apocalypto with Apes.
This is my second ape-centric feature of the year, so let's see how this movie fares and see if based on this movie Wes Ball will have a shot at a new trilogy of movies.
Let's break it down..
Story and Plot
This movie picks up 300 years after the original trilogy. Caesar from the original movies has long since past away, but his teachings have been twisted by Proximus Caesar (Durand) enslaving his own kind whilst searching for long-lost human technology to cement his hold on the world. Meanwhile, a young chimp Noa (Teague) inhabiting a peaceful fishing and falconry village is thrown into the harsh outside world, in doing so he befriends Mae (Allan) a young human and together they embark on a journey of mutual discovery.
My overall thoughts...
Kingdom is a superb intelligent sci-fi action summer blockbuster. Seen as a reset rather than a soft-reboot, this new movie feels very much in the same series. Coming in at 2½ hours Kingdom may well be a long film, but I never felt it's length.
The first act is dedicated to character introductions and backgrounds, as a result it is somewhat of a slow burn, but once the rubber hits the road there is no looking back. Kingdom is undeniably a very impressive movie, it's not a stretch to say this is the best CGI & VFX in a movie since Avatar: The Way of Water. The world is gritty, lived in and above all a believable continuation of the original trilogy.
If you are coming for the action, CGI & VFX you will almost certainly stay for the characters. Thanks to the movie taking it's time in it's first act, you are fully engaged and invested in the stories of Noa, Mae, Raka and it's villain Proximus Caesar. The performances are universally strong across the board.
As with many great movies, Kingdom holds up a mirror to our own society as it explores such issues as the proliferation of weapons and ultimately you may well root for the apes rather than the humans.
Whilst you will of course benefit from seeing the original trilogy, as this movie is a reset you can go in cold and you will not be lost. This movie confidently stands on it's own two feet. The movie also concentrates on being it's own thing as opposed to being just a springboard for future instalments.
Cast
Noa is the hero of the movie whose arc is akin to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, depending on how this movie performs at the box office, Noa's character will essentially become the new Caesar from the original trilogy. His character even shares the same birthmark on his chest as Caesar, I'm calling it now - Noa is a descendent of Caesar. Good luck trying to verify without Ancestry.com! Anyway, Owen Teague, most famous for the IT movies is a revelation as Noa. Thanks to his excellent performance (aided by jaw dropping CGI) you are completely taken with his story.
Mae (or Nova which is the name apes adopt for all humans) is played by young British actress Freya Allen. Allen is excellent in the role, her character representing the audience in the movie. Mae is unique in as much as she is smarter than most humans, the large majority of which have regressed to feral creatures with the rise of the simian population.
My only nit-pick with Mae is that as she represents the audience, her appearance is too modern and glamorous for her situation and environment. She essentially looks like a 2024 young lady dropped into a feral, simian dominated post-apocalyptic world. Glossy lips and perfect eye brows would be hard to come by in such an environment!
Kevin Durand is superb as Proximus Caesar, the evolved Benob ape leading a coastal clan of apes. Proximus is unnerving, cunning and clearly highly evolved. He made for a great villain but I felt was unfortunately underused.
Peter Macon who I know from The Orville as Lt. Commander Bertus plays Raka, highly developed orangutan. He damn nearly steals the movie as Noa's road trip companion who teaches Noa the ways of the original Caesar.
Apes veteran Andy Serkis (Who played Caesar in the original trilogy) was on hand to offer help to the actors on the mo-cap work. The actors also attended a six-week training course on how to move and act like simians.
Sound and Spectacle
Following on from their ground breaking mo-cap work in Rise, Dawn and War, Weta FX (who became industry titans after their work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy) have become the crème de la crème effects house for creature features. This year's Godzilla x Kong is another example of a recent feature of theirs.
The VFX in this movie is flawless. Very much like audiences were introduced to photo realistic dinosaurs back in 1993 with Jurassic Park, the apes in Kingdom are even more realistic than in the previous trilogy. Their facial expressions and mannerisms are staggering, they are so emotive it's unreal. It just goes to show when VFX studios are given the time to perfect their craft they can create something truly astonishing.
The world they inhabit as well is as much a character than any on-screen ape or human. Keep an eye out for well known US landmarks that have been ravaged by time. The cinematography by DP Gyula Pados (DP to Ball's The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials) is superb, the movie looks absolutely gorgeous.
The sound design is also superb and really helps to heighten the tension in the action set pieces, as well as faithfully reproducing simian roars and cries, which helped demonstrate the ferociousness of these animals.
On screen Action
The set pieces in the movie are very well done, and as you really care about Noa, Raka and Mae, they mean so much more. They are genuinely exciting and have you on the edge of your seat as there is a real sense of danger, this certainly veers more into thriller territory than mindless action flick. The first act has one or two, but Ball really ramps up the action as the movie progresses.
Music and Score
I really enjoyed the score by John Paesano which is both haunting and exciting in equal measure.
There were no needle drops in this movie, which given the movie is no surprise.
A worthy successor and continuation of the Apes franchise. Kingdom is more than a big budget summer movie. Yes, it looks stunning, has great action & eye watering VFX & CGI, but it's the characters & story that are the main attraction. Roll on the further adventures of Noa, Statue of Liberty on a beach anyone?
Verdict - MATCHED EXPECTATIONS
No comments:
Post a Comment