Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

This is the fourth film in a franchise I think has been weird overlooked. The three films that have come before have ranged from very good (Dawn) to slightly overlong (War) to ok (Rise). This is the start of a new trilogy which I didn't realise until after the film although it makes a lot of sense because there are plot points that wont be answered until later down the line.

The story takes place 'many generations' after Caesar dies although his shadow does linger throughout the film as Noa (played brilliantly by Owen Teague) who attempts to rescue his tribe/clan after there is an attack on it which leads to the death of his father. Along the way he comes across a human called Mae (Freya Allan) that can speak and she is of great interest to Proximus Caesar who is trying to get through a vault door because he believes he is entitled to it. William H Macy plays Trevathan who is the only other human in the main story although he seems to be unwilling to let Mae and Noa go through with their plan although I think that there was a large chunk of his story missing which would have fleshed out because we get a through away line from him but  that was in and I felt a little short changed from the character. It does feel like the apes are quite stupid because Mae and Noa seem to get into the compound with relative ease and not once did Proximus Caesar think about seeing if there was another way in.

Despite some slight mis-steps the film is an enjoyable one. The second half is where the story really picks up and I like how it feels like the human race is starting to get back on its feet again and this could potentially lead to another battle between humans and apes. The film finds the right balance of having the end of the world feeling that War and Dawn have and yet not as heavy like Rise. There is some more to Mae's story which will hopefully be explored further and Noa is a likeable leader.  

In my opinion, this is the strongest of the reboot series. I think that moving the story on from Caesar was a the smart thing as there was very little that could be done in that time period and moving things along makes the franchise feel fresher than most franchises that are four films in.