Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is an American science fiction action film directed by Wes Ball from a screenplay by Bell and Josh Friedman, and produced by Peter Chernin, Joe Hartwick Jr., David Starke, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver. It is the sequel to War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) and the fourth installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot series. It was released on May 10, 2024.
Synopsis[]
300 years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes, ape civilizations have emerged from the oasis to which Caesar led his fellow apes, while humans have regressed into a feral, primitive state. When the ape king Proximus Caesar, armed with weapons forged from lost human technologies, perverts Caesar's teachings to enslave other clans, the chimpanzee hunter Noa embarks on a harrowing journey alongside a human girl named Mae to determine the future for apes and humans alike.
Plot[]
In an abandoned and ruined city, three young chimpanzees from the Eagle Clan, Noa, Soona and Anaya, climb buildings in search of eagle eggs for their coming-of-age ceremony. Soona and Anaya find their eggs, forcing an intrepid Noa to climb higher to reach another eagle's nest, nearly falling to his death as soon as the mother eagle attacks him after he takes the egg. On the way back, the trio chases a wild human girl who stole a blanket from them but stops the pursuit when the trail continues into the valley on the other side of a railway where it is forbidden to go. Returning to his village, Noa speaks with his father and clan leader, Koro, about the encounter with the human, prompting the latter to send the scout Oda to investigate.
When night falls, Noa surprises the girl in the fish reserve and in her escape she breaks Noa's egg. Eager to perform the ceremony with his friends, Noa returns to the city to find another egg. He comes across dead foreign apes, as well as a mortally wounded Oda who only has time to warn him that others are coming before he dies. Noa hides in time, then sees a patrol of masked apes raiders coming, brandishing electric sticks, looking for the girl. Noa's horse is frightened by an electric shock and instinctively returns to the village, followed by the masked apes. When Noa reaches his village, the houses are on fire and the clan's apes are being captured by raiders. Noa tries to help her father, only to watch helplessly as he is beaten to death by Sylva, the gorilla leader of the raiders, who subsequently knocks Noa off the eagle tower.
Noa wakes up in the morning, his village in ruins. After burying his father, he sets out to find his clan, wherever it may be. His journey takes him to what remains of Los Angeles where he meets an Orangutan named Raka, whose village has also been decimated by raiders. Raka is revealed to be the last living member of Caesar's Order, a group of apes keeping the ideals of the late Caesar alive. Noa tells Raka that the raiders mentioned Caesar's name but Raka retorts that they are only using his name and distorting his legend. Seeing that the girl seems to be following Noa, Raka interprets the moment as a sign that he should leave with Noa. The next night, the girl hangs out near the campfire of the two apes and a compassionate Raka gives her some fruit to eat. The orangutan then urges Noa to show mercy to the young human girl who is dying of cold, leading the chimpanzee to give up his mother's ceremonial blanket to her and Raka deciding to name the girl Nova. Shortly after, Noa discovers a observatory telescope with which he quickly becomes fascinated. Nova arrives shortly after and Noa notices by her reaction to the telescope that she reacts almost like an ape.
The next day, Noa finally decides to let Nova come with them. In the heart of a forest, the trio discovers a herd of zebra drinking from a river, just before being joined by a group of primitive humans, to which Nova becomes intrigued. Noa thinks that letting Nova stay with her people is for the best and invites Raka to educate them with Caesar's ideals while he continues to search for his clan. Unfortunately, the raiders suddenly attack the humans to capture them and then discover Nova's presence. Hiding in the tall grass, Nova is almost captured, causing her to scream Noa's name to attract him to her before she is taken by Sylva. The trio reunited again, Noa reveals to Raka that Nova can speak, which he struggles to believe until the girl demonstrates that she fully masters the language before revealing her real name: Mae, before revealing to know where Noa's clan is. Following the revelation, a gap of trust widens between Noa and Mae, although Raka remains convinced that the three of them must continue to stay together.
A day later, the trio is forced to cross a bridge in order to avoid the strong currents of the river. The raiders ambush them and despite their resistance, Noa and Mae are overpowered while Raka falls into the water but clings to a net. Sylva then without the slightest scruple cuts the rope of the net, leaving Raka to be swallowed up by the current.
Noa and Mae get escorted as prisoners to a huge simian colony located on a beach of old rusty ships left as wrecks. Separated upon entering the largest wreck serving as the raiders' headquarters, Noa reunites with her clan while Mae is confined in a cabin where she meets Trevathan, a cultured human also gifted with speech but totally in the service of the apes. The king of the colony, Proximus Caesar, subsequently offers a speech to the grandeur of the original Caesar whose name he took, of course according to Proximus' own distorted vision. On Proximus's orders, apes attempt to open the armored doors of an old bunker where human technology and knowledge reside, but the attempt fails to the anger of a Proximus determined to penetrate the bunker.
Noa is invited to the Proximus dining table, as is Mae. Proximus expresses his desire to access the concept of evolution thanks to the knowledge inside the bunker in order to be able to build a world similar to that of the golden age of humans. As Mae refuses to help Proximus achieve his goals at the same time that Proximus knows that the young girl also wants to enter the bunker, the ape king explains to Noa that above all he only wants to create a kingdom for the apes, while warning him that humans are not trustworthy, even less those capable of speaking and that he especially wants to prevent them from recovering the contents of the bunker so that humans never regain power and force the apes to live in cages again like in the old days.
An uncertain Noa laments at the docks about his clan's submission to Proximus, considering that he failed to bring the Eagle Clan home as he had promised his late father. However, the visit of Sun, Koro's eagle with whom he has never heard, causes Noa to not let things end like this, also earning him Sun's respect. At dusk, Noa meets Mae in the cabin and although he is wary of her since Proximus exposed her true motives, he agrees to potentially help her achieve her goals if she is honest with him. Mae claims to be looking for a special book in the bunker that would allow lost human speech to be returned. With the revelation that the apes lived side by side with humans until humanity succumbed to their own virus which also gave the apes intelligence as well as Mae knowing how to enter the bunker, Noa gets confirmation that the contents of the bunker can be destroyed by water as requested, which is enough for him to agree to help Mae.
Recruiting Soona and Anaya into their plan, Noa and Mae begin to sabotage the coastal dam with gunpowder but are surprised by Trevathan, the latter having accepted that the old world will never return and judging Mae's desire to see this world come back like an absurdity. Refusing to let him warn Proximus, Mae chokes Trevathan to death then the apes throw his body into the sea. The quartet then climbs the cliff behind the bunker and reaches a platform where the exit of a ventilation duct allows them to enter the human building. Inside, they explore the abandoned place until Mae goes on her own and finds her famous book which actually turns out to be a decryption key for satellite while searching, the apes find a room of education and discover in a children's book that their ancestors lived in cages, leaving them shocked.
In the tank hangar just behind the armored door, Mae activates the doors to open, only to have Proximus and his henchmen waiting for them outside. Although happy to have gotten what he wanted, Proximus condemns Noa for trusting Mae despite her warning and orders Lightning to execute Soona to force Noa to reveal Mae's plan to him. Armed with a gun she picked up earlier, Mae kills Lightning before he can act. The apes panic at the firearm, except Proximus who hopes to obtain more once he has searched the bunker. Terrified and unable to let Proximus win, Mae activates the dam detonation, causing the bunker to flood with the apes inside. Mae escapes in time while the Eagle Clan climbs inside to escape the rising waters.
Noa finds himself confronted by Sylva determined to kill him but Noa manages to trap him between pipes too narrow for the gorilla to pass through, condemning Sylva to drown. Returning to the surface, Noa can barely take advantage of his clan except to be suddenly attacked by a enraged Proximus. The Eagle Clan is too scared to try to help Noa, so Proximus beats him to the brink of death and throws him over the edge of the cliff. Despite his critical condition, Noa still has the strength to get up and begin the song of the eagles, rallying Sun and other eagles who attack and slash Proximus. Inevitably, Proximus falls from the platform and crashes into the sea.
Some time later, while the village is rebuilt, Noa meets Mae again but remains angry with her for what she did. Mae's belief that humanity deserves to find their place as the dominant species only disillusions Noa further, but he remains confused about the possibility that humans and apes can live together, just like Mae. The two ultimately part on seemingly amicable terms, with Noa giving Mae Raka's necklace so she doesn't forget the importance of what their friend believed. Mae later gives the decryption key to a group of non-primitive humans who use it to communicate with others across the planet, while Noa shows Soona the Los Angeles telescope.
Cast[]
- Owen Teague as Noa
- Freya Allan as Mae / Nova
- Kevin Durand as Proximus Caesar
- Peter Macon as Raka
- William H. Macy as Trevathan
- Lydia Peckham as Soona
- Travis Jeffery as Anaya
- Sara Wiseman as Dar
- Neil Sandilands as Koro
- Eka Darville as Sylva
- Ras-Samuel as Lightning
- Dichen Lachman as Korina
- Karin Konoval as Maurice
Production[]
On December 3, 2019, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Wes Ball would write and direct the film, after having previously worked with Reeves on a Mouse Guard film. After that film was canceled by Disney following the merger, Disney approached Ball on developing a new Planet of the Apes film.[1]
On February 20, 2020, it was reported that that the film would not be a reboot, instead chronicling "Caesar's legacy".[2]
On August 22, 2022, Deadline reported that Owen Teague was cast in the lead role.[3]
On September 29, 2022, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the officially was revealed to be Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and that Freya Allen and Peter Macon had joined the cast in the yet-to-be disclosed roles. Filming is set to begin in October 2022, with a 2024 release window.[4]
Music[]
- Main article: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (soundtrack)
John Paesano, who had previously collaborated with Ball on the Maze Runner film trilogy (2014–2018), composed the film score for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Paesano incorporated Jerry Goldsmith's original themes from the 1968 film within the score, describing it as "the musical legacy".[5] The soundtrack was released by Hollywood Records on May 10, 2024.[6]
Reception[]
According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, critics described the film as having "Avatar-level visual effects", complemented by "standout performances and top-notch action", although "it doesn't quite meet the heights of its predecessors." On the website, 80% of 301 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Carving out a new era for The Planet of the Apes with lovable characters and rich visuals, Kingdom doesn't take the crown as best of the franchise but handily justifies its continued reign." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 57 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, down from the "A−" earned by the three previous films, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 77% overall positive score.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first movie in the Planet of the Apes reboot series to not feature Andy Serkis as Caesar following his death in the previous film. However, Caesar appears in the film as a lifeless body before being cremated by his tribe.
- Two characters from the previous films, Rocket and Maurice, appear at the beginning of the film before the time jump to 300 years later. Although Maurice's performer reprises her role for the brief appearance, Rocket's is uncredited.
- This is notable for being the final 20th Century Studios movie to be released onto DVD by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Starting with The First Omen (4k/Blu-ray/DVD release), all subsequent 20th Century Studios films would be released on DVD with the help of Sony Pictures. However, they would still carry 20th Century Studios branding.
References[]
- ↑ New ‘Planet of the Apes’ Movie in the Works With ‘Maze Runner’ Filmmaker Wes Ball (Exclusive)
- ↑ Wes Ball Suggests His ‘Planet of the Apes’ Movie Won’t Be a Reboot
- ↑ ‘Planet Of The Apes’: Owen Teague To Star In New Film Installment For 20th Century
- ↑ ‘Planet of the Apes’ Cast, Title Unveiled
- ↑ "How 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' Score Pays Homage to Jerry Goldsmith's Original Themes". Variety (10 May 2024).
- ↑ "'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' Soundtrack Album Details". Film Music Reporter (9 May 2024).
