Review by Dennis D. McDonald

The recent Planet of the Apes movies demonstrate what’s possible when fundamentally interesting concepts are explored in clever and dramatic ways. They stand in sharp contrast to the bloat and growing irrelevance of the Marvel universe.

It’s both significant and ironic that of the two series, Apes consistently feels more human than Marvel in its treatment of fundamental themes like loyalty, family, tradition, friendship, ambition, and authoritarianism. This is further enhanced by this particular film’s production design, which is, quite simply, magnificent. Kingdom masterfully blends spectacular Avatar-esque visuals with sensitive and nuanced character movements and facial expressions.

Best of all, this film never loses sight of its core premise: that apes are people too—for better or worse.

Review copyright 2024 by Dennis D. McDonald