La Planète des singes : Le Nouveau Royaume

This film continues the franchise's tradition of delivering thought-provoking and visually stunning sci-fi. The film shines with its impressive special effects and CGI, which bring the apes to life in a remarkably realistic way. The world-building is expansive, offering a fresh take on the franchise's post-apocalyptic setting that's both intriguing and immersive. The story introduces new layers to the apes' society and their conflicts, maintaining the series' hallmark of exploring complex themes through its characters.

The performances, particularly from the lead actors portraying the apes, are compelling, adding depth and emotion to their roles. The action sequences are well-choreographed and engaging, keeping the tension high throughout.

However, the film does stumble slightly in its pacing. Some parts of the story drag, and there are moments where the narrative feels overly familiar, relying on tropes from previous installments. Additionally, while the new characters are interesting, they don't always receive the development needed to make a strong impact.

Overall, this is a strong entry in the series that continues to captivate with its imaginative world and impressive visuals, even if it occasionally falls into predictable patterns. It's a satisfying watch for fans and newcomers alike, with enough to offer to keep the franchise's legacy alive.

Really wanted to like this. The previous trilogy is excellent, and I'd even say it's one of the best genre trilogies ever made (LOTR is #1, of course). Dawn is especially a masterpiece of intelligent sci-fi adventure spectacle, a movie that is both exciting and intelligent. The entire trilogy is emotionally engaging and Caesar is an incredible lead.

Unfortunately, this film doesn't have any characters as good as Caesar. In fact, it feels like a lesser retread of the same ideas and themes of the previous trilogy. There's nothing really new here. You've already seen a better version of this movie before.

With that said, let me get the good out of the way first. The cinematography is excellent. The visual effects are still incredible, both as a technical and artistic achievement. The first 45 minutes of the film are really solid. There's a lot of good visual storytelling in the opening act.

However, once we meet the main antagonist, things kinda fall apart. The pacing is off. Some scenes drag, while major character moments feel rushed. There's a friction between two major characters that doesn't feel earned, especially since the characters kinda come to an understanding, and then a few scenes later they are butting heads. What could and should have been an interesting dynamic feels incomplete, like entire scenes were cut out.

The main antagonist could have been really cool. The idea of a cult-like warlord obsessed with human history, there's so much they could have done with that idea. But he simply doesn't have enough scenes to really make him anything more than Koba Part II. And Koba had better motivations and more complexity. None of the characters here are as well written as the previous trilogy and the last 10 minutes feel more like a TV finale than a movie.

Oh, and the music score is pretty generic and forgettable. Really disappointing, because I love the music from the other movies. Caesar's theme is so good. Nothing here comes close.

Anyway... Kingdom is far from terrible, but to quote another major franchise with a movie coming out May 2024: "Mediocre!"

I'm a big fan of all the planet of the apes, and they nailed this one. Usually when they start milking series like this, they come out bad, but with the amazing cinematography and great acting, it more than succeeded. Some movies just deserve to be watched on a big screen, and this is one of them. The movie had me intrigued, and interested in the storyline unlike a lot of other movies I've seen this year. I'm looking forward to what they will come up with after this, and I can assure you that I will be watching no matter what. Go grab a popcorn and enjoy the phenomenal graphics this movies has to offer! Godspeed.

This movies is basically a passage preparing for the next one. It starts at one point and leave us at the same point.

Okay they are interesting things, but in the end we are looking at the story of Indigenous people getting overrun but modernisation. And just like every other movie of the genre there is an happy ending.

Which in this context does not progress the story.

There are many many many things they could have done to save the story. But they were either afraid or got controlled out of it.

I do recognise amazing work on the visuals, which is why I compare this one to avatar. Good visuals but empty story. And it might actually be avatar 2 . A shell movie using the previous one to sell and trying to be a filler for the next one...

The only good things I can say about this film is the CGI and the 5 min climax. It was beyond boring.

The main plot consists of a rescue mission and a divide between characters. Aren't they the plots of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes & War of the Planet of the Apes put together? And somehow most of the film consists of the most uninteresting world exploration and character development. It was almost like they intentionally set the excitement bar low so the next film(s) can easily appear more exciting. If you're expecting an action packed adventure, maybe save your money instead. I wasn't necessarily expecting an action packed adventure, but I expected a bit more than one 5 min action scene. I would also expect to care about the story.

War for the Planet of the Apes is on my 10/10 list, and for it to be followed up by THIS is insulting. When I saw Wes Ball was directing and Andy Serkis wasn't returning I knew it would be a disaster, when I saw the reviews I thought it might actually be good. (I know Serkis's Caesar isn't in the film but he plays an ape for Christ sake).

This was clearly just a cash grab for 20th Century Fox which is receiving relatively positive feedback. Very frustrating to see.