‘Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Review: 56-Year-Old Franchise Reborn With New Angle That Energizes Classic Primate Tale

deadline.com:

After 2017’s masterful War of the Planet of the Apes, which completed the trilogy that started with 2011’s Rise and 2014’s Dawn and told the epic story of wise leader Caesar and the apes who created this whole new world, I really thought there was nowhere else to go with this franchise that had itself started so brilliantly in 1968 with the original starring Charlton Heston as an astronaut who lands in this futuristic world dominated by intelligent apes.

Many other iterations would come, even a side foray by Tim Burton, but it was that most recent trilogy (the first directed by Rupert Wyatt, the final two by Matt Reeves) that really popped.

But being box office successes, 20th Century’s new owner Disney knew there was more to be mined, and they were right. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was put in the hands of director Wes Ball (the Maze Runner trilogy) and screenwriter Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), and they have wisely not tried to carry on where War left off, but rather move hundreds of years into the future (although the exact time is not specified) to a world where these chimps are now dominant over a forgotten human race that is no longer a factor, reduced to people scavenging for food and unable to speak.

The landscape, thanks to brilliant production design from Daniel T. Dorrance, is a remnant of the world humans once dominated: decaying buildings have been overtaken by emerging trees, glass is a thing of the past, and the climate once again is raising its ugly head, reordering the place so to speak.