The 574th film I have seen in theaters…

It has been hundreds of years since a virus wiped out the majority of the human race. This has evolved Apes to high intelligence while devolving the humans. Ape society has since developed into tribes. One tribe leader – Proximus has designs on uniting the apes under him as a new Caesar. In his quest for dominance, he captures and enslaves a chimpanzee tribe. This act causes the tribal heir, Noa, to embark on a quest to free his people and stop Proximus. Along the way he meets an elder who preaches the truth of the legendary ape, Caesar, and a young human woman.

Owen Teague steps into the Mo-cap lead as Noa, the heir of the bird clan. Following Andy Serkis is a tough ask, but Teague does well. Freya Allan is “Nova”, the central human of the piece. I like the mystery surrounding her character and where it would lead in potential sequels. Peter Macon, Bortus on The Orville, plays Raka, the Orangutan devotee to a cult of Caesar (the original). I like this element of the story. I hope there is development on this in sequels. Kevin Durand, who played my favorite character in “Abigail” last month, is Proximus. I loved this villain. There is another human in the film, a good actor too, but I will not spoil it here. I really enjoyed his work.

Planet of the Apes continues to be the most consistently good science fiction franchise. From 1968 to now, the quality is there, especially so in the recent series. This is the start of a new trilogy, and it looks to be a good one. The new characters are compelling and I love the human stuff. It sets up some excellent options for drama going forward. The ultimate plan is for this to be a trilogy of trilogies ending with the arrival of Taylor. Sign me up

7/10