Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes

Phew, thank you God!

Good news! Kingdom is a very good follow up to War and is a strong movie on it's own. It actually crosses into the rare territory of a sequel where you don't need to have seen previous installments to get. Set many generation from the ending of War we see apes of a certain clan in particular Noa take up a quest to rescue his family from an invading much more hostile section of apes, along his travels he frequently has run ins with a human named Mae and a wise sage orangutan by the name of Raka who broadens Noa's mind of the before times, before facing off against the king of the coast Paximus Caesar. First and most crucial thing I gotta bring up is the worldbuilding set up here is so interesting and you may find yourself with more questions by the time end credits roll, but I do not see that as a negative. Because the movie is set most likely hundreds of years in the future that gives the filmmakers such a wide sandbox to play with, and the details you are given whether newcomer or experienced viewer is interesting stuff. The fact alone that it's been so long the events of Caesar's life is legend puts it all into perspective. Apes while still vocal in speech still use sign language and are not super fluent in english. Humans who can speak are practically a myth with most more resembling cavemen from the Paleolithic period. The biggest and most fascinating fact to me anyway was just a tidbit of information, that Paximus has been brought up on roman history and so many pieces click together from hearing that! That's worthy of a movie all on it's own, an intelligent ape who is well read in ancient roman history, that has no right to be as cool as it is! And the performances carry so much whether it's Owen Teague as Noa still young and learning but has an iron will, Kevin Durand as Paximus who doesn't fully slip into the tyrant role but clearly he's no good, Freya Allan as Mae has a lot more going on with her than just a slightly more intelligent human, and Peter Macon selling me once again on why the orangutans are my favorite of the subspecies carrying a lot of history and wisdom with good bits of humor as well. Obviously the visuals have not degraded since War, you get a lot more emphasis on environments both natural and dilapidated human structures and it all looks mighty good. I feel the emotional connection while it can't match the intensity of the last two films can easily be built upon for our new cast, I do want to see where this could go and I was wondering how was this movie going to end. I figured they would try for a continuation but also could have seen the movie end relatively contained. It's pretty good, I'd rank it between Rise and Dawn which is already damn good company to be within, and you can either catch it this weekend or pick it up on video in the future depending on how sold you are on this now continuing saga. I give it 3.5 stars, 7.5/10, and the work is coming along for next week with one show down and one to go.

Abigail

I was hearing some buzz before seeing this movie, which believe it or not is a rare thing in my profession and from people I knew and reputable sources in the horror fandom it was very highly rated. So what did I think?

It's different but thankfully so. I truthfully wish they kept the "twist" if we may call it out of the trailers entirely, just set up the kidnapping plot and then people start getting offed and sell it on that alone. Which is hilarious because for once in my life I called the movie before the trailer revealed itself just through the use of Swan Lake. So yeah sorry to have spoiled the movie for anybody who doesn't know, this is a vampire movie. But it is far from traditional or really predictable for that matter centering on a group of hired kidnappers who bite off more than they can chew (ha ha ha...) when oopsy daisy the target is a ballerina vampire. That's unique enough a story already but how the movie progresses from there throws interesting elements into the mix. Not really curveballs, it is the movie that is advertised but rather it goes off and does it's own thing beginning to end. Brilliant production wise, you only really got 2 sets and 8 actors to work with and despite the richly designed manor the majority of the plot takes place in is pure blooded low budget horror, even with the gnarly effects. Though it certainly sprinkles more than enough rubbish jumpscares which dings the score a notch, it's just never going away I can't escape it. Alisha Weir though quite precious in real life is striking, creepy, and acts her damn heart out in this movie! She gets a little Hannibal Lecter at a certain point and with the pliès and pirouettes, there can be no doubt how perfectly casted she is. As for the kidnappers Melissa Barrera as Joey is our main focal point and please do not take this next comment as negative, the rest kinda fit into more classical stereotypes but it's the actors that bring something to the table with it and makes it very enjoyable. Dan Stevens is the dickish leader, Kathryn Newton is semi-valley girl, Kevin Durand is the lovable dimwit, you've seen this before and yet it's still pretty good! You're not waiting for them to become the next meal in the buffet, because they have familiar but good character to them. I quite like the design for the vampire in this, it's more simplistic with just wild contacts and freaky ass teeth that's all you need. Hell horror cinema in decades past made it work with even less, and I like how it throws some big middle fingers at classic vampire repellants while still incorporating bits of lore. It's a quite good movie and while I was iffy on it Universal delivered yet again with another monster movie and I can firmly recommend it. Plus it gets points solely for using the Swan Lake music several times which clearly adds a layer of art and beauty to appease my cinema snob heart. 3.5 stars, 8/10! Henry Cavill blasting natzis tomorrow, ain't life grand.