Ivan Radford | On 03, Aug 2024

Director: Wes Ball
Cast: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H Macy
Certificate: 12

“You gotta stop thinking about the way things were and start thinking about the way they are.” Those are the words of Trevathan (William H Macy), a human navigating a world that has long since become led by apes. That relationship between past and present is central to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The fourth entry in the modern incarnation of the sci-fi franchise, it serves as a legacy-quel to the Caesar-led trilogy – and explicitly interrogates Caesar’s legacy 300 years after his story ended. What did he stand for? What kind of equality did he envisage for apes? And can apes and humans ever exist side by side?

Those questions loom over the planet that has formed in the centuries since, and the fact that his name still rings in the air is rather fitting – Andy Serkis as the motion-captured protagonist of the first three films is sorely missing. But by turning it into the crux of the plot, Kingdom finds fresh moral complexity and intrigue in its expanding world.

The focal point of this new narrative is Noa (Owen Teague), a young chimp whose clan lives in harmony with falcons. We first meet him on a coming-of-age ritual to collect wild eggs with his friends, Anaya and Soona, but things take a turn for the worse, when another bullying clan storm their village – and Noa finds himself on a voyage of discovery, revenge and escape. He finds himself joined by Raka (Peter Macon), an orangutan who knows the truth of what Caesar stood for, and Mae (Freya Allen), a human who surprises Noa by being able to speak.

They wind up in the shadow of Proximus (Kevin Durand), a bonobo who rules a coastal clan of apes with a twisted version of Caesar’s teachings – and what ensues is a promethean tale of invention, ambition and power, as Proximus and Noa both grapple with what it means to be a leader and what it means to learn and evolve.

Wes Ball directs the collision of values and loyalties with the same knack for set pieces and world-building that he brought to The Maze Runner. While some action sequences are reminiscent of the previous Apes films, the effects are brilliantly convincing and the backdrops are hauntingly realised, from crumbling satellite dishes to creaking dams holding back forces that are greater than many of the characters realise. The cast, meanwhile, invest the web of motivations and uncertainty with a heartfelt sincerity that gives enough weight to keep us invested even without Caesar present.

What does living with respect for nature look like? How can truth be passed on to the next generation? And can apes and humans can co-exist peacefully? Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes succeeds by immersing us in a world where that mystery is still being worked out.

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