‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ The Creation of the New Dominion

After a man made various began to wipe out the human population all over the world, the apes began to take over. The war between man and ape began with man starting to dominate and control the ape population. Caesar with the help of some humans found a way to defeat and save his family from their pending doom. As the time went there was peace among the apes. Some 300 years after the death of Caesar man seems to have completely disappeared and the planet was now dominated by this new species. In this new realm, the existence of man that is left has turned to what the chimpanzees called Echos, and the population of the apes has grown immensely. 

While on their quest for adulthood three chimpanzee hunters, Noa (Owen Teague), a likely descendant of Caesar, and his two friends, Anaya (Travis Jeffery), and Soona (Lydia Packham), are adventuring into the high mountains to retrieve eagle eggs. This ritual is done when they reach the age of passage and raise these babies to be their own. Noa’s father Koro (Neil Sandilands), leader and trainer of the clan’s eagle population, is trying to prepare the young ones for this ceremony. Now Noa and his friends are charged to care for their newfound responsibility and raise their new companion. 

One night, Noa discovers that there is a thief that enters the camp at night and steals food. He begins to track this burglar and discovers this feral young woman (Freya Allan as Mae / Nova). Together they encounter a renegade tribe of gorillas that has plans to destroy and capture prisoners of any kind. When they discover what they have done to his tribe it brings them on a new journey. Here they meet Raka (Peter Macon), a wise and virtuous orangutan. As they all voyage on, they meet a couple of interesting characters, Trevathan (William H. Macy) an older human male and Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand).

Director Wes Ball had the job of creating a future for the original Planet of the Apes Trilogy; Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) , and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). Here he put together a realistic possibility of the ancestors of Caesar and his counterparts to man’s existence. Developing a fantastic story that moved smoothly throughout the film helped establish a new start to this imagined domain. Adding convincing special effects (IMAX) helped you feel you were right there with these heroes as they moved through the narrative. Along with the computer-generated imagery (CGI), it gave you a spectacular insight to the path that was needed to develop such a wonderful exploration. Finally, the performance by this mostly unknown cast was outstanding and worth seeing on the big screen.

Following through this IMAX experience brought me to a creation of wonder and excitement as the audience was transported to a new discovery of enrichment.  All in all, a wonderful experience of action, adventure, and science fiction that fully entertained and included everything. 

Final Comment: I based my grade on the excellent storyline, the magnificent performance, the out of this world special effects and incredible imagery.

Stars 4 out of 5

Additional Film Information

Cast: Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Owen Teague, Peter Macon, Travis Jeffery, Lydia Peckham, Neil Sandilands, and William H. Macy
Directed by: Wes Ball
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
MPAA Rating:  Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence/action
Running Time: 2 hours and 25 minutes
Release Date:  May 10, 2024
Distributed By: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release In: IMAX, Dolby Digital, Standard