Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

May 10, 2024 7:27 AM

[TRAILER] Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he's been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

Starring Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy.

Directed by Wes Ball. Written by Josh Friedman. Based on characters by Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver. Premise from the novel Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle. Produced by Wes Ball, Joe Hartwick Jr., Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Jason T. Reed for Oddball Entertainment/Jason T. Reed Productions/TSG Entertainment. Cinematography by Gyula Pados. Edited by Dan Zimmerman. Music by John Paesano.

82% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now playing in theaters. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (19 comments total)

So, to keep it straight because it's been 13 years:

2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes, now 2024's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, is that right? Did I miss any in there?
posted by Kyol at 8:54 AM on May 10, 2024

That's the order, yeah. I would have sworn there was another one in there if you had asked me six months ago, but it's just those.

Interestingly, whereas the original series started with subjugated humans in an ape-dominated future, then pivoted via time travel to ape uprisings beginning in the near future, the new series began with ape uprisings in the present and near future, and is now pivoting (via flash forward) to subjugated humans in an ape-dominated future.

Maybe the most surprising thing about the reviews so far is the effusive praise for the direction of Wes Ball, mostly known at this point for directing three Maze Runner movies nobody thought were that noteworthy.

I'm seeing this tomorrow.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:09 AM on May 10, 2024

Linnaeus is rolling over in his grave. It should be Planet of the Kingdom of the Phylum of the Class of the Order of the Family of the Genus of the Species of the Apes.
posted by emelenjr at 11:04 AM on May 10, 2024 [28 favorites]

Yeah, I thought that was a weird Modern Apes Series Naming thing, but there's precedent, the Original Apes went from 1968's Planet of the Apes, 1970's Beneath the Planet of the Apes, 1971's Escape from the Planet of the Apes, 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes to 1973's Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

Someone just needs to finish off the rest of the Burton Apes arc. C'mon, hop to it.
posted by Kyol at 11:14 AM on May 10, 2024

I just rewatched the Burton PotA with the commentary on and whoo boy.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:27 AM on May 10, 2024

either this has interspecies romance or I say COWARDS
posted by elkevelvet at 12:30 PM on May 10, 2024 [2 favorites]

I bet they didn't film it guerrilla style either.
posted by biffa at 12:36 PM on May 10, 2024

I keep hearing that these films are surprisingly good, but something about their trailers always sets off animal-cruelty anxieties in my brain. Even if the animals are CGI super-evolved apes! Weird but true.
posted by praemunire at 1:27 PM on May 10, 2024

Um, I would say that if stories of adorable, humanlike animals being treated badly (The Plague Dogs, Rocket's storyline in the last GotG, etc.) is very triggering for you, a lot of this (imo) very good film series (I haven't seen this one yet) will be painful to watch.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 1:40 PM on May 10, 2024 [1 favorite]

Discussion of the qualities of the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Back in high school my buddy Frank just vanished. Nobody could find him for a whole weekend. We were worried but came to find out TCM or something was screening all of the original 70s Ape films (and series I guess?) in order on TV and buddy unplugged his phone to watch them all without interruption. Just went all-in on impulse.

I hope in 20 years the modern series has that same effect on high school AV club weirdos. It's very different of course, but also very much product of its time in the same way, and while its ridiculous charm is its own, it is no less charming, and no less ridiculous.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 2:01 PM on May 10, 2024 [8 favorites]

We were worried but came to find out TCM or something was screening all of the original 70s Ape films (and series I guess?) in order on TV and buddy unplugged his phone to watch them all without interruption.

My former roommate would occasionally declare an "Ape Fest" in our apartment where he'd invite a bunch of people over and they'd all commit to watching all of the original PotA movies back to back. Everyone always regretted it by the end but the also always somehow forgot that regret the next time an Ape Fest was announced.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:23 PM on May 10, 2024 [12 favorites]

2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 2014's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes

I really enjoyed the first of these reboots by director Rupert Wyatt with a solid story and characters I cared about. However, the second and third by director Matt Reeves left me cold - - c-suite exposition-lead storytelling with programmed action. I retain a modicum of hope that director Wes Ball will be an improvement, but not enough to get me out to the theatre. My review will follow when it hits streaming.
posted by fairmettle at 11:25 PM on May 10, 2024 [1 favorite]

This continues to be the one big budget series I actually enjoy.

I'm sick to death of superheroes and Star Wars and whatnot, but I do enjoy the apes.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:03 AM on May 13, 2024

i'm pretty entertained by how the only character that's appeared in every movie is james franco's attic window
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 8:36 AM on May 13, 2024 [1 favorite]

Just saw this in the theater, and it's definitely a movie made for the big screen. Any fans of the apes should hie themselves to the theater, if at all possible.
posted by cupcakeninja at 1:00 PM on May 18, 2024

Saw this today because it was the only dad-approved movie on our Father's Day outing, and didn't really know anything about it other than vague memories of the previous movies, but was pleasantly surprised! The emotiveness of the ape characters was a truly impressive marriage of human performance plus CGI. It was all super convincing and immersive; the only thing that threw me out of it was the CGI effects for wet fur didn't look quite right to my eye.

either this has interspecies romance or I say COWARDS

lol I definitely thought this too. Like, get started on that introgression, humans! It's a storied and very successful homo sapiens tradition! It's for the good of both your species!!
posted by yasaman at 10:09 PM on June 16, 2024

I'm not a massive fan of this series but it was pretty entertaining. The CGI seemed good to me, Corridor Crew had a video on it. The exception was the apes riding horses. The jiggling just looked kind of wrong to me, but maybe it was perfectly accurate, I've no idea how an ape riding a horse really looks.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:32 AM on July 5, 2024

either this has interspecies romance or I say COWARDS

In the Tim Burton version, Helena Bonham Carter was at least 98% of the way to being into it. Like, she was preparing to take the plunge.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:29 PM on July 5, 2024

the best of the new series. loved it
posted by clavdivs at 4:21 PM on September 7, 2024