Film review: "Planet of the Apes: New Kingdom" and the desire for apocalypse

Contents

It's been seven years since "Planet of the Apes" was last seen in theaters. The trilogy about the chimpanzee Caesar has come to an end with the new film: With "Planet of the Apes: New Kingdom" marks the beginning of a new era several generations later, in which Caesar haunts the culture of the apes as a legend. In the meantime, they have founded a tribal society and have almost forgotten their shared history with humans.

A new kingdom

At first glance, the "Planet of the Apes" reboot appears to contain few new ideas. Like almost all major productions, this one also relies on a familiar story with a reliable fan base. This minimizes the risk of financial losses and, according to modern Hollywood logic, makes a high budget possible in the first place. The subtitle "New Kingdom" is also a yawn: "Godzilla x Kong: New Empire" and "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" are currently running in theaters. Everyone is going for the big empire, it seems.

Here, however, the title fits, because "New Kingdom" is actually about power interests and a new world order. One of the movie's strengths is its worldbuilding.

The story

The clan around the chimpanzee Noa (Owen Teague) lives an initially peaceful life in a green valley: the apes domesticate eagles, ride horses, smoke fish and build houses out of wood. Their culture is archaic. They know neither writing nor electricity.

In their immediate vicinity stand overgrown skyscrapers, which from a distance are barely recognizable as being of human origin. On their climbing adventures, the chimpanzees must realize that the steel structures can in no way be natural. But no one seems to ask where they come from.

Apparently, in view of global warming, the destruction of nature and wars, there is an increasing desire for the apocalypse. Fallout, The Last Of Us and many other recent games, films and series are also set in a deserted world surrounded by ruins that bear witness to former greatness.

Myth, religion and schism

Peace rarely lasts, as is the case with the chimpanzees: warlike and physically superior gorillas attack the village and smash everything and everyone to pieces in the violent construction of their kingdom. However, Noa manages to escape and meets the orangutan Raka (Peter Macon), who traces the secret hidden in human books: "The symbols have meaning". They meet the human woman Mae (Freya Allen), who seems to be different from her fellow species. Raka knows that Caesar had a special relationship with humans and contacts her.

Where a kingdom is concerned, power interests are at play: the gorilla Proximus Caesar is inspired by ancient Rome and has a very different interpretation of Caesar's legacy than Raka. The technology of the humans before the fall of their civilization is supposed to help him achieve power and greatness. However, he cannot achieve this without the help of the humans and his key to them is Noa. This starts the conflict with the humans and the eternal cycle of the rise and fall of great civilizations all over again.

The apes find themselves in a dark age in which only a few have a faint idea of history. Like the grandees of the Middle Ages, Proximus emulates the Roman legacy. One interesting aspect is the schism of the almost religiously revered Caesar: Raka studies the relics of the humans and considers coexistence possible, since Caesar also lived with humans. Proximus only sees his side as a powerful ruler.

Both know only a piece of the truth, of which they have a vague idea; both want to uncover the secrets of the humans. In their quasi-religious worship of Caesar, they come to very different conclusions. This is where the movie develops a clever idea, but without hitting it with a sledgehammer.

Stylistically close to the original

Director Wes Ball seeks stylistic proximity to the 1968 original with Charlton Heston. This can be seen, for example, in the gorillas hunting humans on horseback with nets. The soundtrack by John Paesano, with its strong emphasis on bongo drums and atonal intervals, is also reminiscent of Jerry Goldsmith's 1968 film.

The story is based on the French novel of the same name (original title: "La Planète des singes") by Pierre Boulle and, like "Animal Farm", is a humorous parody of the supposed superiority of humans over nature or other cultures. Unfortunately, "New Kingdom" lacks the sometimes bitter, always amusing gallows humor of the original.

Realistic apes

For the first time, the apes in "New Kingdom" look neither like people in masks nor like video game characters. The New Zealand effects studio Wētā FX brought them to life digitally as characters that speak, act and show emotions. For the first time, they are given the full monkey character: Chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas are each characterized by their own body language, which testifies to how closely the digital artists must have studied their subject.

In the sixties, John Chambers gave 200 actors and extras prosthetic make-up that allowed an incredible amount of facial expression for the time. Immobile rubber masks were common, such as that of the Gorn in the Star Trek episode "Arena", in which Captain Kirk fights a reptilian creature on a rocky planet. Chambers rightly received the Special Achievement Oscar in 1968. Actor and performance capture specialist Andy Serkis lent his facial expressions and gestures to the chimpanzee Caesar in the previous trilogy; in the current film, he merely acted as a consultant. Compared to the trilogy from 2011 to 2017, Wētā FX has made significant progress and draws much more realistic apes than ever before.

Bottom line

The story seems quite predictable for stretches. The gorilla Proximus occasionally drifts into cliché and, unlike the other characters, comes across more like a character from a Disney cartoon than a real ape. New Kingdom" probably doesn't have what it takes to become a classic that will outlast the decades, but it does make for a good and not at all silly, definitely entertaining evening at the movies.

(akr)