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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nIn this era of constant reboots and re-imaginings and the like, \u201cPlanet of the Apes\u201d has had a pretty successful run. 2011\u2019s \u201cRise of the Planet of the Apes\u201d was such a big hit both commercially and critically that pundits were talking about an unprecedented motion-capture-based Oscar nomination for Andy Serkis as lead ape Caesar (it didn\u2019t happen, but it was fun to speculate). Two follow-up films in 2014 and 2017 weren\u2019t shabby either, and it looked like the series was going to stop at a taut little trilogy. But now we\u2019re back with \u201cKingdom of the Planet of the Apes,\u201d which takes place in the same continuity as Caesar without overextending the neatly-wrapped arc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Set 300 years after Caesar\u2019s passing, apes have taken over the world landscape, while humanity is all but wiped out. The apes have formed tribes and communities, and even taken to domesticating animals like horses. Our new hero Noa (Owen Teague) is part of a tribe that trains eagles, even bonding with them like family members. He and his friends Soona (Lydia Peckham) and Anaya (Travis Jeffrey) make risky climbs to pick out the best eggs for a ceremony to impress leaders Dar (Sara Wiseman) and Koro (Neil Sandilands), Noa\u2019s mother and father, respectively. Noa has a rare encounter with a human, followed by an even worse encounter with a malevolent ape army that ransacks his village and takes surviving tribe members hostage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Left for dead, Noa soon sets out on a mission to rescue what little remains of his home and family. He meets wizened old ape Raka (Peter Macon), who becomes his mentor. He also re-encounters human Mae (Freya Allan) and the two form an unlikely bond, even though the two species have been feuding for generations. They\u2019re eventually captured by head pillager Sylva (Eka Darville) and taken to the titular Kingdom. The good news is that Noa is reunited with the rest of his tribe, the bad news is that they\u2019re all enslaved by mad king Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Surprisingly, Proximus doesn\u2019t hate humans as much as the other apes in these movies. He likes their culture and even keeps one (William H. Macy) as a sort of pet. Unfortunately, his love of humans has led to him picking up some of their worst tendencies, like greed and manipulation and a thirst for power. He\u2019s convinced that if he can get into a locked human vault, he can use the human \u201cknowledge\u201d (mostly weapons) inside to take over the world. Noa and Mae agree that they can\u2019t let that happen, but they have different, and perhaps conflicting motivations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be honest, until it reaches the Kingdom, this movie drags. The destruction of the peaceful village is just so expected from this kind of movie, as is the journey filled with unlikely friendships. Fortunately things pick up toward the end, with the psychology of shifting loyalties and some memorable action. Let\u2019s just say that this movie adds another chapter to this franchise\u2019s complex history with gun violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The exciting conclusion is admittedly quite successful in making the audience (including myself, since I\u2019m recommending it) forget what a slog the movie was beforehand. \u201cKingdom\u201d is going to do well enough that we\u2019ll probably see another \u201cPlanet of the Apes\u201d in the near future, and sure, I\u2019m interested enough to stay with this continuity for a while. No character in this movie is as memorable as Serkis\u2019 Caesar, of course, but I\u2019d like to see how some relationships and journeys develop. It won\u2019t happen for this movie, but who knows, maybe a future installment can finally score one of the apes that elusive Oscar nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grade: B-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKingdom of the Planet of the Apes\u201d is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence\/action. Its running time is 145 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Bob Garver In this era of constant reboots and re-imaginings and the like, \u201cPlanet of the Apes\u201d has had a pretty successful run. 2011\u2019s \u201cRise of the Planet… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":59343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[2691],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59344,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59341\/revisions\/59344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}