‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ shows that you can teach an old franchise new tricks

‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ shows that you can teach an old franchise new tricks

Seven years after the trilogy that ended with Caesar (Andy Serkis) leading his band to the promised land, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” has no clear road map of where and how to revive the franchise. Given that, this latest addition exceeds expectations, respecting its source while building a muscular and thoughtful adventure with a very ape-centric concept.

Jumping a few hundred years into the future, the new film will likely start off a bit slow, in part because it’s starting almost completely from scratch in terms of characters and plot. While the premise seems like the height of simplicity – the son of an invaded tribe embarks on a quest to find and save his brothers – the lens widens to display additional possibilities, though the film stands on its own quite well (and frankly, would probably be better if it just draw conclusions where they occur).

The audience, in the end, will determine whether “Planet of the Apes” swings again, but 56 years after the shocking revelation that greeted Charlton Heston in the first film, the idea has proven very difficult to kill, growing (not always for the better ) in various way. What’s more, the film is now being distributed by Disney, which both knows something about film franchises and could use another, especially with other parts of its portfolio looking more shaky in recent years.

In this new telling, the story hinges on Noa (voiced by Owen Teague), whose peaceful existence is dealt a sudden violent blow when the army of Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) – an ape looking to expand his kingdom – attacks, kills many and takes them who survived as prisoners.

Noa sets off in pursuit of them, meets a wise man, Raka (Peter Macon), and a human woman (“The Witcher’s” Freya Allan), who clearly knows more than the usual wild ape, but her interest in Proximus and joins Noa in the dangerous quest to find it represents the mysterious source.

A veteran of the “Maze Runner” films, director Wes Ball and writer Josh Friedman cover a lot in setting it all up, and still find time to throw in moments of humor and clever homages to the original film. The visual effects are excellent and convincing, a must when most of the characters are rendered digitally, while communicating using a combination of sign language and speech.

The real magic, however, comes in taking a familiar plot in a direction that manages to feel surprising, not reinventing “Planet of the Apes” but refreshing it in a satisfying way despite the lack of glue Serkis provided in the latest run.

Usually, Hollywood blockbusters aren’t the place to go to see an old dog learn a new trick, but this “Ape” proves that even an old cash grab doesn’t have to be without intelligence or ambition. Whether that means wanting to revisit the planet, give it credit when it should be jumping into the unknown that, for the most part, sticks to the landing.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” opens on May 10 in US cinemas. It is rated PG-13.