THB #532: Kingdom of The Planet of the Apes

Or, as it might be subtitled, “Kingdom of the Klan-et of the Apes.”

Or at least that is what the first part of the film feels like, as the lovely, kind, spiritual apes (I will use that term for most of this review… name of the movie… sorry if you want it to be more specific) are under threat from mask-wearing, muscular, violent asshole apes in masks, who want to enslave them or kill them and burn down all they have built. ‘

Why? Ah, there’s the rub!

But even before we get to that, the movie opens with a sequence of 3 apes exploring a world of nature - you will know why if/when you see the movie - and it is stunning. I mentioned it before in my CinemaCon coverage, as that is the footage Fox/Disney showed and it really is beautiful. In this sequence and throughout the movie, the achievement of WETA and whoever else might have been involved in the CG elements has really taken another step forward with this film… even from the earlier recent ape trilogy that was so impressive then.

It is one…