WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY! Welcome back stinkers! I have recently seen the new Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and boy did that go by fast. This remains as one of the most consistent franchises out there. I hope you enjoy my review of the movie, and make sure you come back for more reviews of more Planet of the Apes.
Non-Spoiler Review
So, I have very much come to love this movie. A good second place entry, behind Dawn. I do however think we’re going to need more time with these characters. That’s fair, because I needed more time with Caesar when I first watched Rise. However, at the same time I also think that we might need less time. Cause, I love all of these characters. These characters caried lots of emotion, now that they’ve had time to develop. The one thing was that there was emotion to the characters, but the story itself didn’t carry a lot of emotion. That’s really the one thing that needs to be improved upon in my opinion. The worldbuilding is still immaculate, and the VFX just keeps getting better and better. I just really enjoy watching these movies over time. The movies just get better, not only in looks, but in story and characters. You just really got to appreciate the people behind these monkeys. If you didn’t have them, you wouldn’t be able to see the talent behind the ape. So again, the performances in here were able to convey a lot of emotion. The problem is that the team behind the actual story, wasn’t able to convey as much emotion. It’s certainly in the right direction. My favorite part of the movie had to be the mythology. Wes Ball was able to take what was there 300 years ago and extend it to something new. They also set up more suspense throughout the film, as two opposing sides are set up. Although Caesar isn’t in here, he had a huge presence throughout the story. Although he has been dead for generations, it was almost like he moved the story along. He might just be the key behind E VO LUTION.
Caesar’s Impact
So, now that I got my non-spoiler review out of the way. This is when I like to go back through my thoughts, and further elaborate, and talk more in depth. That means I will now be walking into spoiler territory. Like I said, I loved the mythology throughout the movie. It is made well aware, that Caesar has had an impact on generations. Apes still follow the words of Caesar, and what he stood for. I was actually surprised, about the opening of the film. The movie opens with the funeral of Caesar. It even included cameos from my boys, Maurice and Rocket. The ending of War for the Planet of the Apes was beautiful, and when they opened up with Caesar’s funeral, it almost made my worries go away. My worries on whether moving on to new characters would be good or not. Wes Ball was able to touch upon the beautiful story made by Matt Reeves, and he was able to transition us into a new story.
Don’t forget, Caesar is mentioned all throughout the film. That’s where Raka and Proximus comes into play. They tell apes the words of Caesar, but in different ways, and to different people. Raka is like a preacher to other Orangutans and apes, and he is one of the few that understand what Caesar really stood for. Then you have Proximus Caesar, who used his name for his own selfish reasons, and he twists his words for his own benefit. That right there, is the distortion of faith. It was probably the most (maybe the only) emotional part of the movie. It was very compelling for the characters. The characters benefited from it, but not as much the story.
Proximus Caesar
So, Proximus has to be my favorite character of the movie. I’m still thinking about it, but he might just be my favorite villain to date. The distortion of faith was what drove the story and is what drove the character. I also just love Kevin Durand in this role. Like I said, as time has gone on, technology has improved. That only allows for there to be more emotion in the characters. What all of these actors were able to do behind the mocap suit was awesome! So, the main goal of Proximus is to find what is inside this man-made bunker, while at the same time, making his own Kingdom. What he goes through to get there was all amazing, we just never got the right amount of time with him, in order to pay it off as well as you could’ve. It’s very later in the film when we first meet Proximus, and that’s when things start to kick into speed, but at that point we’ve lost a good chunk of time from the movie. Overall, he’s a great villain, he had a big presence on screen, and he felt very much like a threat. There’re also these moments we get throughout the story, that left a sense of intrigue. When he explains his goals to Noa, I was left curious. I was curious on what has really happened between War and Kingdom. That’s where a lot of the human stuff comes in, but in some ways Proximus leads us to more answers.
Now I also wanted to talk about the way he went out. The way he was introduced was amazing! After I watched the movie, I just got so many quotes running through my head, along with the voice. He just had this lasting effect on me, to where I just heard his awesome voice over and over in my head. That for me is a sign of a great villain. However, I’m kind of mixed on the way he exited the film. By the end Proximus dies. It’s a great full circle moment for Noa, but not as much for Proximus. When he’s simply just killed by a bunch of birds, he doesn’t feel as powerful as he was earlier. It felt like Noa was luckier, because Proximus was in more of a weekend state due to the flood. That’s just me though. It might’ve taken a little bit away from the character, but I still love him.
Raka
Now Raka also kind of had a preacher type role. He was one of the few that actually understood what Caesar stood for. He might just come in second place for my favorite characters of the film. His role was one of my favorite types, where he comes off as wise, but is also comedic relief. He was really able to push the story along, he was able to get the characters to where they are now. What I’m basically trying to say, was that he was a mentor to Noa. Raka carried a lot of religious beliefs with him, continuing the religious imagery from the past movies. I mean they literally put Caesar on a cross! I mean I just really love this character, for being there. If Raka wasn’t a part of the movie, then I think it would’ve had a more difficult time moving. The movie had a very strong flow to it. You also wouldn’t have some of the worldbuilding without Raka. If Raka didn’t take Noa through that abandoned city, not only Noa would’ve known more about humans, but technically we wouldn’t know a lot about the humans. Even though Mae is in here, and she introduces the human side of things, but I don’t think it would’ve felt right if Raka didn’t first introduce them to Noa. I would also like to mention how he stands up for the humans. He was ready to fight for them, when the gorillas arrived. That just shows not only the impact of Caesar, but how strong Raka’s faith is. He understands that Caesar had a love for humans, so he is trying his best to follow.
Now something that definitely got me sad, was when Raka died. When he was swooped away by the current. Now, I would like to bring up the credits. I didn’t catch this when I watched the movie, but some other people did. Apparently if you waited for the end of the credits, you could hear a noise made by an orangutan. Meaning, that there is a good chance we see the return of Raka. How? You may ask. I really don’t know. Another thing that I’ve really come to like about this movie is that once it was over, it kept me guessing. All throughout the movie, it gave me curiosity about the future. There’s lots of different directions this movie could go! We still have two more movies for this trilogy, and a whole new trilogy after that! I think if Raka were to come back in the next movie, then I think he could be a big step for apes and humans to live together in harmony.
Mae and the Humans
So, our main human character of the film is named Mae. She’s a part of this group of humans that have managed to survive the simian flue, and she is out to stop Proximus from opening up the vault. Now there was nothing special about Mae for me. I will however give credit where credit is due. I liked that she was able to add some suspense to the film. When you view her actions, you view them like Noa. You never know what she’ll do next. From now on, you can’t really trust her. I wanted to mention her last interactions with Noa, where we see a loaded gun behind her back. I view that as the symbolic relationship of man and ape. Humans and apes will never truly able to coexist, and the planet will only be juggled back and forth. It’s gotten to a point now, where apes have developed to have more emotion. They’re able to express emotions more freely. I guess that was really shown early in the original trilogy, but it is carried on here. This is going to be the true War for the Planet of the Apes. You know, one of my biggest gripes of the third Apes movie, is that it didn’t feel like a War. It was really just the start of a war.
Now another thing that I liked about Mae in here is that she was able to bring a sense of humanity to the film. If you’re going all the way 300 years in the future, then you’re going to lose a lot of humanity. But we’ve somehow managed to circle back, to where we’re given hope for humanity again. Don’t get me wrong, I love the apes in all of the movies. It just feels like that one of the things this franchise needs, is a sense of humanity. We need the humans to give a grounded story to tell. The humans are really how you put a lot more emotional value in this. We’re going to be hooked on the brink of humanity. They have just done a really good job, by dragging this out for hundreds of years. And we still have the same level of hope, but also intrigue.
Noa and His Tribe
Now speaking of our main character, Noa. Now, Noa hasn’t done anything special for me yet, I still very much enjoy his character. We really get to know where he is coming from, we just haven’t exactly gotten a lot of time for his character development to pay off. I can very much forgive that though. I love this added lore on top of what we had before. When we get introduced to his character, we get time to breathe, and see how much this world has changed. Not only the world, but we also got to see the change of apes, and then change of humans. If you thought we were done with the original trilogy, you’d be mistaken. Along with Caesar’s presence, what was set up in the original movies is still being paid off to this day. I have a feeling this extra layer is going to be added on, and when we get to the next trilogy, these current movies will be paid off. Noa is just the next step in that direction. Noa has some big shoes to fill, following Caesar, and I think he’s going to fit in them very nicely. As we see him retain all of this new information, it just makes him a better character. He’s more knowledgeable of the past, which leads him to step up as more of a leader to these apes, and future ones to come. The easy comparison is that Caesar is the Jesus, and Noa is like the George Washington.
Now kind of going back to his tribe. It was very interesting to see, because the apes have evolved so much to where they follow their own cultures and do their own things. I hate to say it, but it’s almost like the apes segregated themselves. Noa has his own tribes made up of all chimps, and then Raka said he’s from his own tribe of orangutans. Now Proximus is a bonobo, but he’s trying to make his own Kingdom, filled with all different apes. The gorillas are then on his side. Now that I think about it, maybe Proximus was right to make his kingdom. It was really the closest we’ve seen the different apes together. That really only adds to his character, not Noa’s.
The one thing I wasn’t the biggest fan about when it came to Noa’s people, was how quickly they switched up. They seemed pretty faithful to their people and village, but the second they’re captured, they’re not willing to do a whole lot for each other. They’re more helpless, which leads Noa to stand up. That does put Noa on more of a pedestal, but that means the tribe people aren’t as likable. That’s what I think, I don’t think a lot of people would say the same thing.
The Bondage of Human and Ape
This movie was a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me. Although we have the symbolic relationship where humans and apes could never truly coexist. I also think that humans and apes bonded together for a little bit. Our three heroes, Noa, Raka, and Mae, was a step in the right direction. I loved seeing these three bond over the fact that they no longer have anyone. At least that’s how I felt at first. By the end the movie has played with my emotions a bit. Mae has broken the trust of Noa multiple times at this point, and that just makes it heartbreaking, because not that long ago we just saw them bonding. That’s one of the many great things that Wes Ball was able to do in here. He’s able to set something up at the beginning, and then he’ll make sure to pay it off at the end. He’ll pay it off whether it was a good thing or not.
The Future of the Planet of the Apes
Now more recently we got the news that there are plans for a nine-film saga. That already includes the original trilogy with Caesar, so we still have at least five more movies to go. At the end of the movie, we are left off with both Noa and Mae, looking up into the sky. Just before that we saw Mae enter this facility, where we see there’s a group of humans both alive and well. I think that this trilogy might feature the rise of humans. One of the last things we see is that the humans get a hold of another group of survivors. A lot of people think that the astronauts that were teased in Rise of the Planet of the Apes crash landed on earth. Although that might be cool, I just don’t see a purpose for them just yet. The astronauts are very likely, but I think that it’s just another group of survivors more of a distance away. Now I hope that we could maybe get to travel around the world someday. We’ve only really seen the apes in America. A lot of people, including me are very curious on what the rest of the world looks like. I think that the humans we see in this movie got in touch with another group farther away, and apes that are from that area follow them here out of curiosity. That’s how we could see different kind of apes and see if the different apes adapted to any of their culture from where they’re from.
Review Recap
That is going to be it for my review of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes! As the movie has just sat with me, I’ve come to really love it. The characters are automatically set up to pay off in a magnificent way. The characters had plenty of emotion, but the story didn’t have just as much. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to catch up on one of my movie reviews. As of now, I actually just watched the new IF. So, stay tuned for my review. I’m just going to tell you that, I also love this movie. Make sure to check out The Big Stinker Blog for coverage on movies, TV, gaming, along with, reviews, and breakdowns. So, until next time stinkers! Bye bye.