“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” opens where “War for the Planet of the Apes” left off, with the funeral of Caesar, before jumping forward in time many generations later. Our new hero, the chimpanzee Noa (Owen Teague), is part of the Eagle Clan, an ape tribe that trains eagles for hunting. He’s about to partake in his coming-of-age ceremony when an enemy army, led by the gorilla Silva (Eka Darville) and serving the tyrannical Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), attacks the Eagle Clan’s village, killing Noa’s father Koro (Neil Sandilands) and kidnapping the rest of his tribe.
Presumed dead, Noa heads out to find his family, followed by a seemingly feral human girl (Freya Allan). Raka (Peter Macon), an orangutan scholar dedicated to the original Caesar’s teachings, joins the group and names the human Nova, but it turns out she can talk, is actually named Mae, and is far more intelligent than she’s let on. Ambushed by Silva’s army, Raka is swept away in a river, while Noa and Mae are captured and brought to Proximus’ seaside kingdom.
Proximus is fascinated by human history and has been educated by a human supporter named Trevathan (William H. Macy). He wants to break into a vault filled with ancient human technology that he believes will hasten apes’ evolution, but neither Noa nor Mae want this despot to acquire such potentially dangerous power. Mae, meanwhile, seeks a treasure within that she claims will let other humans speak.
