May 13, 2024 · Watch the trailer
Visual artistry in cinema can be a profound thing that captures an audience and leaves them breathless as they witness stories unfold on the big screen.
Given strong enough cinematography and other visual effects, the most picturesque locales carefully crafted and captured can elevate mediocre storytelling, poor storytelling, and subpar acting to make a film engaging and worth heading to theaters for.
By far the biggest strength of director Wes Ball’s latest film is the dynamic, impactful ways in which audiences are immersed in a post-apocalyptic world, breathing new life into a long-standing film franchise with the release of “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” this past weekend.
Carrying on the legacy of the previous trilogy headlined by motion capture master Andy Serkis, Ball’s “Kingdom” takes things forward visually and attempts to propel the struggle between apes, their rivals, and humans caught in the crossfire to another level while also paying homage to films that came before it.
The spectacle that the digital artists create to engross viewers within the world of “Kingdom” is truly magical throughout, though Ball and screenwriter Josh Friedman don’t always make the most of every opportunity to tell their story effectively and efficiently.
Set many generations after the events of 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes,” “Kingdom” follows a young ape named Noa as he travels beyond his clan’s lands in order to rescue his family and help a mysterious human along the way.
It’s an overly simplistic narrative for a two-and-a-half-hour film, though Ball spends a great deal of time both visually and structurally setting the stage for events to come in anticipation of making “Kingdom” the start of a new trilogy of films. While significant groundwork is laid towards making something majestic and beautiful, there still needs to be more of an effort to keep audiences engaged beyond simply interacting with the cinematography and advanced CGI work here.
With a whole new cast and fresh characters, “Kingdom” seeks to set off on its own footing, though it’s difficult for audiences to find their footing early in the film without a way to easily discern characters from one another in look or performance. It’s only when the film enters its second act that “Kingdom” begins to take off at all and character development actually begins.
The central character, Noa, portrayed by motion capture actor Owen Teague, is moderately compelling though feels like a softer caricature of Serkis’ work as Caesar in the prior “Apes” trilogy. It’s a base-level performance that feels focused on certain raw emotions of sadness and physicality meant to establish a framework for future films rather than create a whole character within “Kingdom” itself.
Conversely, Freya Allen, who plays one of very few human characters within the film, does a terrific job masking her true intentions throughout and keeping audiences wondering where Mae really stands. Although there are broad physical changes in Mae over the course of the film, Allen combines this with emotional character work that helps balance out a rather disjointed narrative.
Perhaps the best and most underutilized character in “Kingdom” is Peter Macon’s soft-spoken, introspective orangutan Raka, who steals scenes with genuine warmth, humility, and humor that come off the character even though it’s created from motion capture overlayed with computer graphics.
Unquestionably the main reason to check out “Kingdom” this month is the remarkably beautiful cinematography and masterful digital effects. There’s something about the expansive worldview that Ball and his team create that supersedes much of the narrative shortcomings and makes the film a visual cavalcade of ever-changing vibrant colors, hues, and expanses that truly show the potential for a larger “Apes” franchise beyond what director Matt Reeves did to seemingly conclude the franchise in 2017’s “War.”
A film that looks better than it plays out, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is visually remarkable enough to justify a trip to the big screen although audiences willing to wait until the film hits streaming services later this year could get a similar experience from a 4K-quality at home viewing.
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