Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Crafts a Sequel Caesar Himself Would Be Proud Of

I love the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy. In fact, I think it’s one of the best film trilogies of all time, so it should come as no surprise that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was one of my most anticipated movies of 2024. I’ve been waiting for this film with bated breath ever since I first heard about it, and I bought a ticket for opening weekend as soon as I could. I was super excited to find out how this movie would build on Caesar’s legacy and move the franchise forward, and now that I’ve finally seen it, I’m happy to report that it’s a worthy successor to the Caesar saga.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was directed by Wes Ball, and it stars Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, and William H. Macy. The film starts off with Caesar’s funeral to establish some continuity with the previous Apes movies, but after that brief introduction, the story jumps ahead “many generations.” It changes its focus to a young ape named Noa who lives a peaceful, happy life in the woods with his clan, but one day, he and his kin are attacked by a group of marauding simians.

They burn the village to the ground, leave Noa for dead, and abduct the survivors, and when Noa finally wakes up, he sets out to rescue his friends and family. Along the way, he meets an orangutan named Raka who teaches him about Caesar’s legacy, a human called Nova who seems smarter than the rest of her species, and an evil, almost Koba-esque ape leader named Proximus Caesar.

Pretty much right from the get-go, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes had me absolutely hooked. To begin, as we all expected, this movie looks absolutely gorgeous. The Apes films have basically been the gold standard for visual effects for over a decade, and this latest installment does not disappoint. Everything from the characters’ hair to the folds of their skin is so realistic I almost forgot the apes were CGI, so I’m going to make a bold prediction and say that this movie is finally going to win the franchise its first VFX Oscar.

However, as any film fan knows, pretty visuals can only get you so far. For a movie to succeed, it also needs some great characters, and thankfully, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes knocks it out of the park on that front as well. Let’s start with Noa. The film gives us about 40 minutes to get to know him before the story really gets going, and while that makes for a bit of a slow burn, it’s totally worth it.

The hardships this guy experiences make him super sympathetic, and actor Owen Teague plays him with the perfect combination of human emotion and simian mannerisms. Sure, Noa is no Caesar, but when all was said and done, I found myself loving this new lead almost as much as I loved his legendary predecessor.

Next, let’s talk about Raka. While Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes doesn’t tell us exactly how much time has passed since Caesar’s death, it’s been long enough that Caesar’s legacy has faded into myth and legend. He’s become kind of like a Jesus or Buddha figure to the apes, and some, like Noa, have never even heard of him. However, there’s a group that carefully preserves the truth about Caesar and his teachings, and Raka is one of them.

In fact, he’s the last one left, so there’s nobody else like him. That uniqueness alone makes him super intriguing, and when he talks about Caesar and his legacy, it’s nostalgic and wholesome in all the right ways. What’s more, actor Peter Macon also imbues Raka with the kind of captivating authority you’d expect from a wise sage, so you simply can’t help but hang onto this character’s every word.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, we have Proximus Caesar, the villainous ape king who sees himself as a new Caesar (hence the name). He gets surprisingly little screen time, but whenever you do see him, he’s absolutely magnetic. Actor Kevin Durand somehow manages to give a CGI animal crazy eyes, and I’m not exaggerating. Every time Proximus Caesar steps on screen, you can just tell that he’s utterly insane, so he might even be the best villain this franchise has ever had.

However, even with those excellent characters, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes does suffer a bit on the narrative side. Despite the movie’s nearly 2.5-hour runtime, some story elements feel a bit rushed. For example, I wish we could’ve learned a little more about Proximus Caesar and his plan, but instead, we got the bare minimum. Sure, we understand what’s going on, but because it’s all just a bit too thin, we don’t always feel the impact of this character’s evil ways as much as we should.

Similarly, Nova’s part in the story comes across as little more than a setup for future sequels. Like I said before, this human doesn’t seem like the rest of her kind, and when you find out why, it’s really intriguing. There’s a goldmine of storytelling potential here, and I’m sure 20th Century Studios is going to take full advantage of that in the next few years. But that’s exactly the problem. It’s almost entirely potential, so the actual payoff with this character is pretty minimal.

But in the grand scheme of things, those two flaws aren’t nearly enough to ruin the entire experience. Sure, the narrative could’ve been a bit tighter, but Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is still a visually gorgeous and emotionally stirring good-versus-evil tale that Caesar himself would be proud of. It’s a great time whether you’ve seen the previous movies or not, so if you’re looking for something good to watch, I highly recommend that you give this film a shot.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is playing in theaters right now.