Gaze agape at an ape escape
KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Director: Wes Ball
Cast: Owen Teague; Freya Allan; Kevin Durand; Peter Macon; William H. Macy; Travis Jeffery; Lydia Peckham; Neil Sandilands; Eka Darville Rating: (M) ★★★
At an unspecified point in the future, many generations after Caesar’s reign, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Reading, Rialto) depicts a world commanded by apes, where humans appear to have regressed into primitivity, not unlike the original 1968 film. At the film’s centre is Noa, a young ape hunter, who sets out to liberate his clan from the captivity of the tyrannical ape Proximus.
As a selfproclaimed Apeenthusiast, I appreciate Kingdom’s departure from the trilogy prior, crafting its own voice, which is of a more fantastical nature. In setting up a new set of films, director Wes Ball frees himself from the burdensome obligations of continuity, offering an original take on a franchise with many previous iterations already.
The settings are visually radiant, with pandoralike natural beauty and rusted, overgrowthcovered buildings that hint at oncefamous locations of the past, including a possible reference to the Golden Gate Bridge, symbolically linking to the first film. However, the grounded nature of the three films preceding Kingdom were less reliant on CGIsettings, which often feel like video game cutscenes.
The standout element of the film is its primary antagonist, Proximus Caesar, a zealous ape leader, inspired by classical literature, whose recurring catchphrase, “What a wonderful day,” joyfully repeats through the film.
Twisting the words of Caesar (the ape, not the human) for his own malevolent intentions, Proximus provokes us to reconsider how we mythologise historical figures, like Caesar (Julius, the human). His followers are particularly intimidating, with costumes and weapons that frighteningly frame their fanatic, violent agenda.