Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Review: An intelligent exploration of interspecie relationships and man-nature conflict

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Review: An Intelligent Exploration Of Interspecie Relationships And Man-Nature Conflict

300 years after Caesar sacrificed himself for the sake of Apes, humans are now infected by a virus which has left them unable to speak or function. The planet is ruled by Apes who are divided into clans. Directed by Ball, Wes the film opens with three chimps—Noa (Owen Teague), Soona (Lydia Peckham) and Anaya (Travis Jeffery) climbing trees to capture eagle eggs as a part of a ceremony. Out of the three chimpanzees, Noa is courageous and combative while Anaya, his best friend, is more fearful.

Soona and Noa play lovers to each other as they hunt eagle eggs. We are introduced to the Kingdom of Apes ruled by Koro (Neil Sandilands), Noa’s father, who is also the leader of the clan. As Noa, Soona and Anaya bring eagle eggs, young chimps watch in amazement. In an unexpected twist, a human follows Noa and ends up cracking his egg, jeopardizing his ceremony.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Plot

As Noa goes to hunt for a new egg, he discovers that his father Koro has been killed by the rival ape raiders who use electrical weapons to neutralize their targets. The apes follow Noa’s horse to his village and set it ablaze. Everyone in Noa’s village is abducted. He must rescue the apes with the help of the human scavenger Nova (Freya Allan) who has her own agenda behind helping him.

What follows is an exhilarating journey where Mae, Noa and Raka (Peter Macon) try to rescue the abducted clan as they rebuild their home. What I absolutely loved about the film is just how meticulously it explores the interspecie relationships between human and animal entities. The theme is brought to the forefront when Noa and Nova (interesting choice of names, given that they only differ by a syllable), discuss whether humans and apes can co-exist peacefully.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: Writing And Direction

As man’s greed gets the best of him, nature’s wrath leads to an interspecie battle. The fourth installment in the Planet of the Apes franchise, Wes Ball’s 2 hour, 25 minute long film offers commentary on the interdependence of non-human and human entities. On finding children's books in the bunker, Noa and the members of his clan are outraged—they show humans as the dominant species and the apes being kept in cages in a zoo.

While 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes established apes as the species that dominates over humans, 2024’s King of the Planet of the Apes shows this complex dynamic unfolding where apes are dominant species and humans are unintelligible. Must one species dominate the other and jeopardize their right to life? Wes Ball explores these themes in this film.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: Performances

The children’s books are a classic example of how seeds of speciesism (the idea that organisms of a certain species are more important than the other) are sown in the minds of human children at a very young age. In a dystopian future where these books have become irrelevant (since apes rule the world). These books lead us back to where it all started—man’s need to be morally superior over every other species.

What also works well for Wes Ball’s film is the visual effects. For a film which has only one human character, much of the heavy lifting is done by CGI. To that end, the film doesn’t disappoint. The apes are adorable, action sequences are majestic, even if they go on for a long time.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: What Works, What Doesn’t

At 145 minutes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is simply too long. The film starts slow and takes forever to get to the point. In fact, it isn’t until the halfway mark of the film that the central conflict becomes evident. While the commentary of speciesism is sharp, the film takes forever to suck you into its world. Patience is a virtue (and a lot of it is required in the first hour of the film).

After the set-up (which basically takes forever), the central conflict between the clans comes to light. That is when things begin to get interesting. Noa tries to contact other intelligible human species using satellites. While there are total nine films in this reboot, it will be interesting to see which direction the next installment will take in the franchise.

Star Rating: 3 / 5 stars

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is streaming now on Disney+ Hotstar.