An excellent conclusion to a trilogy even better than I had heard. This is what blockbusters should be. Absolutely gorgeous.with the ground it’s breaking with technology all in service of the human performers. Serkis captures the turmoil in Caesar’s soul with the littlest shift in his eyes, and the way his face can just crumble makes your heart ache. The razor’s edge Caesar dances on between his old ideals and the agonized vengeance that his former brother Koba succumbed to is just as suspenseful as the action and escape scenes, which are pretty damn suspenseful. Everything’s so immaculately paced so that the explosive climax feels well earned.
I would kill for Maurice. Koba is fantastic in his two scenes, his smug and wild grin nightmarish as he revels in Caesar following his path. And Harrelson’s Colonel is a worthy follow up. A monster not seperate from humanity but fueled by his idea of it, a distillation of the idea constant through the series that there is only one way to be a person and a departure from it is a threat. There’s no sign, as seen by Nova, that losing the ability to verbally speak means losing anything else, but to the Colonel it means becoming something lesser. You could very easily make a disability rights read with this movie. With his background and Harrelson’s expertly delivered monologue you can hold sympathy for him while knowing unequivocally he is a devil. And the subversion of one last showdown between him and Caesar is so good. Instead, he’s a broken man, whose efforts have all been for nothing. There’s no glory here. Zahn also shines as Poor Ape, comic relief that never distracts from the movie and that has an aching heart to him. His eyes are pools of fragile hope and longing. And even smaller characters like Red Ape and Preacher get little arcs that reflect each other and are filled with humanity, good and bad.
It’s small and seems so simple but the way they tie the virus to the speechless state humans get to in the original series is well done, as is the voyage to a new land at the end. In an era of nostalgia pops, them finding a home that echoes the original franchise is earned, built up over three movies, and because it has a hope over it. This is not a prequel, but a reimagination. Through all the hardship, they proved that ape together can find something better, something new. Where Battle’s bittersweet hope fell flat, this is well earned. Not executive or test audience mandated, but dictated by the plot, and still with that Apes signature of man destroying each other over what amounts to nothing. There’s no guarantee the apes will be different; they just have the chance, and even having the chance is a beautiful thing. Kingdom has a lot to live up to, with being the first since Rise not directed by Reeves and the first one not to have Serkis. But all of these movies- minus the remake- have had something to chew on at the very least, and often were more thoughtful and provoking than they were long given credit for. If Kingdom follows their example, it just might live up to this high standard.
Review by JCVIP 4BlockedParent2024-04-29T05:59:12Z
An excellent conclusion to a trilogy even better than I had heard. This is what blockbusters should be. Absolutely gorgeous.with the ground it’s breaking with technology all in service of the human performers. Serkis captures the turmoil in Caesar’s soul with the littlest shift in his eyes, and the way his face can just crumble makes your heart ache. The razor’s edge Caesar dances on between his old ideals and the agonized vengeance that his former brother Koba succumbed to is just as suspenseful as the action and escape scenes, which are pretty damn suspenseful. Everything’s so immaculately paced so that the explosive climax feels well earned.
I would kill for Maurice. Koba is fantastic in his two scenes, his smug and wild grin nightmarish as he revels in Caesar following his path. And Harrelson’s Colonel is a worthy follow up. A monster not seperate from humanity but fueled by his idea of it, a distillation of the idea constant through the series that there is only one way to be a person and a departure from it is a threat. There’s no sign, as seen by Nova, that losing the ability to verbally speak means losing anything else, but to the Colonel it means becoming something lesser. You could very easily make a disability rights read with this movie. With his background and Harrelson’s expertly delivered monologue you can hold sympathy for him while knowing unequivocally he is a devil. And the subversion of one last showdown between him and Caesar is so good. Instead, he’s a broken man, whose efforts have all been for nothing. There’s no glory here. Zahn also shines as Poor Ape, comic relief that never distracts from the movie and that has an aching heart to him. His eyes are pools of fragile hope and longing. And even smaller characters like Red Ape and Preacher get little arcs that reflect each other and are filled with humanity, good and bad.
It’s small and seems so simple but the way they tie the virus to the speechless state humans get to in the original series is well done, as is the voyage to a new land at the end. In an era of nostalgia pops, them finding a home that echoes the original franchise is earned, built up over three movies, and because it has a hope over it. This is not a prequel, but a reimagination. Through all the hardship, they proved that ape together can find something better, something new. Where Battle’s bittersweet hope fell flat, this is well earned. Not executive or test audience mandated, but dictated by the plot, and still with that Apes signature of man destroying each other over what amounts to nothing. There’s no guarantee the apes will be different; they just have the chance, and even having the chance is a beautiful thing. Kingdom has a lot to live up to, with being the first since Rise not directed by Reeves and the first one not to have Serkis. But all of these movies- minus the remake- have had something to chew on at the very least, and often were more thoughtful and provoking than they were long given credit for. If Kingdom follows their example, it just might live up to this high standard.