Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: Noa’s Arch

MOVIE INFO:

Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

REVIEW:

Almost all of the Planet of the Apes movies going back to the 1968 original have been monkey see monkey do. The series has been able to evolve into interesting science fiction that has taken on racism, authoritarianism, police brutality, the upending of humanity via either virus or nuclear Armageddon. The last trilogy released between 2011-2017 have been among the series best.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, a mild reboot, picks up where that trilogy left off. Caesar, the Moses of the apes, has led the apes into a paradise where humans can’t spoil their utopia. Several generations later, as the opening crawl states, Caesar’s sayings and acts have acquired a mythology that has spawn several squabbling religious sects. The one that closely parallels Jesus’ teaching is considered the true sect, all the others are corruptions. Coexistance and harmony with all creatures, including humans, is the golden rule. It’s something that both humans and apes will relearn during the course of the movie.

Kingdom is really an imaginative retelling of parts of the story of Noah. The main chimpanzee, Noa (Owen Teague) is named Noa. Close enough. There is a major flood that does quite a bit of destruction. There is even an old abandoned rusty tanker that is suspiciously ark looking. Wrath and destruction will come and a new space will be built from the water logged remains. But since this is a realistic telling that acknowledges the compromises between good and evil, true and false prophets, deception and good intent, there is no rainbow promise arching the sky. And definitely no menagerie of two by two animals of all kind.

The plot revolves around religious and ethical questions.— what is true and what is false prophecy and religion? Noa’s quest for revenge is tempered with lessons on love and forgiveness from an old orangutan, Raka (Peter Macon). The teachings of Caesar are corrupted to a code of conquest by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), the leader of a clan of coastal apes, that attacked Noa’s village and killed his father. The humans, a mostly mute and dull witted lot, do have survivors pretending to be dumb and dull, but are really looking for a key data object that can revive ancient tech. The eventual human treachery and deceptions lead to questions as to which species should really be the earth’s true inheritors.

Proximus Caesar co-opts the Caesar mythology to prop up his own version of leadership. He twists the original Caesar’s strength and bravery into swagger and a show of force, an aggression designed to control rather than instruct the apes. He is an authoritarian that strives toward facism. He bullies his subject into believing that he is Caesar’s rightful heir and that only by working together can a better civilization be achieved, and can be an unstoppable historic force.

Proximus is a true ancient Roman underneath. He models his village around Roman symbols, conquering ideals, even in the use of forced labor. He wants to raid and sweep the riches of his own world and the human technological past. He is intent to repeat the arrogant and prideful mistakes of history.

The whole movie has a powerful momentum, with an ending that’s more tinged with tragedy than hope. That’s in keeping with the series history. Co-opting idealism and converting them is their cautionary theme. Romanticize the past at your own peril it warns. Golden ages and years are rarely golden on proper reflection. Reframing and resurrecting history creates more problems, intractable ones. Proximus is destined to be part of history’s trash bin.