1968. its hard to fathom that this series has been around for the vast majority of my life. 55 years of it, to be exact. When The Planet of the Apes debuted in 1968, how could they have known that this storyline would continue til 2024 with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes? I simply can’t think of any other series that has gone on for so long.
And so well.
Now this isn’t to say that there have not been hiccups along the way. A few of the early ones were very low budget and it showed. Beneath, Escape from, Conquest of the and Battle for got progressively worse up through 1974 when the animated series seem to come along and put the movies out of their misery.
Plans to redo the series were kicked around. And around. And around. But it wasn’t until 2001 when Tim Burton tried to revamp it vs continue it. Bad move, Tim. Simply a very bad move. While the movie itself wasn’t horrible, it wound up being an island in the life of the series. Didn’t progress the story, just rewrote the 1st movie.
Appreciate your efforts, Marky mark, but no.
Now we jump ahead 10 years to 2011 and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. We venture back in time develop the apes origin. How did they get smart and mankind hit their own mute button?
2014 came about with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and honestly, while this one had some shining moments, the overall CGI and horrible right scenes that looked more bad comedy than action packed, I walked away disappointed in this one.
2017 we get War for the Planet of the Apes and wow! The action has returned, and Woody Harrellson puts on one HELL of a performance! This to me was the best of the 3 reintroducing the series.
Now Disney bought the rights and my heart sank. They killed Star Wars with Political Correctness and decided to simply rewrite the first movie (#4 actually of the 9) 3 times and totally screw up one of the most epic things from my childhood.
Credit where credit is due. Kingdom for the Planet of the Apes is all that and 2 buckets of chicken!
We kick off another series by jumping ~300 years after the death of Ceasar where Proximus is the new leader and abusing Ceasars teachings. There seems to be a huge concrete shelter where Proximus is capturing all apes he can to force the doors open. He wants what the humans have left inside.
So does Nova. The human girl.
Wait a minute, how many Nova’s are there?
Glad you asked and all I will say is you will find a lot of things you go “wait, that’s wrong” as you’re watching it but give it a bit of time. In the almost 2 1/2 hours of the movie all things get explained and they are not a contradiction after all.
We are also introduced to a clan of apes that cultivate eagles for pets and hunting and you meet Noah. The raid on his village sends him on a revenge quest that cumulates with him against Proximus.
You will find nods and easter eggs all through the movie. You will also find origins of other pieces of the original 60s/70s series and you will leave with a huge smile on your face as you begin to piece together where this trilogy (or however many they will do now). The ending sets the stage for the next phase in a story that started with a book in 1963 (La Planete des singes), a movie in 1968 with so many quotes we still use today to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
1968.
I was 3 years old and had to catch the original later but was old enough to see the last few.
if we rate the 2011 movies and up, I put this on on par with Rise of the Planet of the Apes that got things going but not as good as War for the Planet of the Apes with Harrelson. So far that is the best.
This is a close 2nd and sets the stage so well. This one is mostly advancing the apes storyline, but you do see where the humans will play a large role in the next one.
And while this is still opening weekend for Kingdom, I am already ready for whatever is next.
See this in the theater. It’s worth it!
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