Director: Wes Ball
Actors: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Peter Macon, Kevin Durand
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: M
‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ is about ‘Planet of the Apes’ #10, and
the 4th prequel, following the recent 2011-2017 films. This film is set
a couple of hundred years after Caesar and introduces new antagonist Noa (Teague)
a chimp from a clan that raises eagles to fish with. His friends Laika (Berry)
and Anaya (Jeffrey) set the scene of the new world well, undertaking an
initiation climb to claim eggs. When their village is attacked by some bad
apes, Noa sets out to free his clan.
It's easy
to forget this is a post-apocalyptic film, as the CGI is so good and the apes facial
expressions so human-like, but there’s some good reminders throughout, with a
telescope, ships and the bones of skyscrapers now covered in plants. On his journey,
Noa meets Raka (Macon), a wise orangutan that opens his eye’s to Caesar’s philosophy,
and they both encounter Mae (Allan), a by-now rare talking human. The “bad”
apes are being led by Proximus (Durand) and his gorilla-offsider Sylva
(Darville), but suitably arrogant delusional.
Always good to have the tension as a viewer of “which side am I cheering
for?” when it’s humans vs apes. Mae’s character starts off as a bit of a caricature,
but evolves into something meaningful, setting up future films. Lots obviously filmed
in Australia, with gum trees noticeable and lots of bushland recognisably
Aussie. Final act is exciting, but a bit predictable. Noa’s character arc holds
it all together nicely.
Overall: Solid start to what I assume will be a new
trilogy
Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment