In 2000, director Tim Burton tried to revive the “Planet of the Apes” series by turning it into an action-packed science fiction roller coaster ride. That didn’t quite work out well enough, so in 2011 it came back with “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” a smaller-scale, character-focused drama, and it soared. That trend continued with the next two sequels, and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” ups the ante even further — by focusing mainly on ape rather than human drama.
The first two movies in the rebooted series focused more heavily on the humans, with the third entry, “War for the Planet of the Apes” splitting the narrative just about equally between both sides. But “Kingdom” puts the spotlight almost entirely on the apes themselves, with almost the entirety of the conflict played out between the ape characters, while a young woman named Nova provides the biggest human role. This helps set it apart from the previous three movies, and gives audiences further insight into ape society in a world where humanity has been all but erased.
Because of the focus on apes, the film is able to get away with much more heavy-handed social commentary and political allegory. For some it may be a bit too unsubtle, but because it’s centered on an almost alien-like society, it works well, and is just the kind of story that today’s politically motivated mass audience can latch on to.
