Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

If I were to compare this movie to the other installments, Overall Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes cannot hold a candle to those others. But, this one does what it is supposed to do. Which is throw an alley-oop to future Planet of the Apes movies. With that being said the writers took some “safe” routes to putting this film together.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes takes place hella decades after the death of Caesar in War for the Planet of the Apes. If you have not seen War for the Planet of the Apes you can get by watching Kingdom for Planet of the Apes because they provide enough context that you can catch all drifts. But it is a good idea to be abreast of the goings on. So I suggest being caught up before going into this one.

Let me start by saying that visually Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes carried the torch from the previous films well. The CGI and cinematography was nothing short of stupendous as with all of the films in the reboot franchise (Excluding the Mark Wahlberg joint). The entire environment was lush and expansive which allowed the moviegoer to get a feel for how massive the event was that led to the current circumstances. The storyline though flat in some areas was serviceable. Where I felt Kingdom went wrong, well not necessarily wrong but this is where they played it “safe”. There were no strong lead characters. Noa came across as clever yet kind of a punk and soft-spoken. King dude Proximus Caesar seemed like a Koba retread which is a good thing. But he was in so few scenes that you do not check for him much throughout the movie. I did like that they gave him that fanatical slant. He was on Caeser’s nuts something tough. Though a strong lead was lacking, there was a wider range of personalities on display from the apes.

By the end of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, you do not know who will be leading what, or what is next for human and ape relations. You just get the feeling is not going to be good. But the playing field is as level as it has ever been in this franchise. I will be here to see what hi-jinx these pesky humans cook up in the future.

Kingdom of the Planet of The Apes is an enjoyable movie-going experience. If you are a fan of the franchise or a casual fan of smart primates. This one is for you. The Hood gives this one 4.75 EBTs