About a month or so ago, I went to the movies. I kept postponing it until I almost missed the last showing of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. I barely made it to the cinema, right before they locked the doors, but that’s not what I want to talk about. It’s the film that matters, not the adventure of someone determined to watch it on the big screen, with quality sound.
I’m a fan of Planet of the Apes, and I’ve seen all the films. But…
The events in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes take place several generations after the death of Caesar (the movie opens with his funeral ceremony), in a world where humans have forgotten how to speak and, in many ways, how to be human. Meanwhile, the apes have evolved significantly—but not as much as they’d like.
Noa, Anaya, and Soona are members of a peaceful tribe of chimpanzees who train falcons. They’re preparing for their graduation ceremony, which involves retrieving wild eagle eggs. This adventure drags on a bit, but the breathtaking landscapes make the sequence bearable. The three manage to collect the eggs, but Noa loses his due to the interference of a woman who sneaks into the clan’s village. Determined, Noa sets out to find another egg, and from there, the real action begins. The tribe’s scout is killed by gorillas, and General Sylva uses Noa’s horse to invade the village.
Noa races back to save his clan, but he arrives too late. The village is burned, many clan members are killed, and the rest are taken captive. Noa escapes and embarks on a journey to rescue his tribe. Along the way, he befriends Raka, a wise orangutan, and the two seemingly adopt Nova. Unfortunately, the gorillas are never far behind, and Noa struggles to fight them off. In a tragic turn, Raka loses his life.
Noa eventually reaches the gorillas’ camp, where they’re trying to open a massive vault by the sea. Nova has her own agenda, and…
I won’t reveal too many details because I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet. But I do have some personal observations. The film’s pacing is slow to start, with the action picking up in the latter half, where the plot twists come one after another. Still, there are some frustrating flaws in the script. For instance, the final battle between Noa and Proximus Caesar feels forced. Noa manages to save his tribe, but oddly, none of them seem eager to help him when he’s attacked by the furious gorilla. It’s true that a raging gorilla is a formidable opponent for a chimpanzee, both in real life and in the movie, but sheer numbers should have made the difference. A clan of chimpanzees, even if physically less powerful, could surely take down a gorilla, no matter how enraged.
But that’s not what happens in the film. The chimpanzees stand by, terrified, watching as Proximus Caesar brutally attacks Noa. They don’t intervene. They cry out in desperation, they act helpless, but they stay on the sidelines. With his last ounce of strength, Noa calls his falcon. Only then do the other chimpanzees find their courage, starting to hum the tribe’s song, and the falcons swoop in to finish what the dozens of chimpanzees couldn’t. In a way, the chimpanzees’ behavior struck me as oddly reminiscent of something very Romanian. Romanians are big fans of folk music and often wait for someone else to solve their problems.
The scene, which was clearly intended to be epic, ended up being rather pathetic. Why didn’t the chimpanzees band together to defeat Proximus Caesar when he was the last remaining enemy? It wouldn’t have taken much, and the risk was minimal. But the director wanted to create something memorable—and they did. Memorable for how bad it was.
Obviously, the film leaves room for a sequel, and since Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes became profitable shortly after its release, it’s likely the franchise will be milked until it stops being profitable. Unfortunately, the film falls short—it’s inferior to many of its predecessors. The action feels diluted and, at times, boring. Raka disappears from the story unexpectedly and doesn’t return until the end, even though he’s the kind of character that could have been developed further. There are many gaps, and plenty of aspects that could’ve been improved. Some sequences could have been cut entirely, but as I said, the action was so watered down that they needed filler scenes. I hope the next installment in the series will be better. Because there’s definitely room for improvement. A lot of room.