'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' review: Old franchise, new tricks

Pour one out for Caesar, the lead chimp in the rebooted "Planet of the Apes" franchise, who isn't around for the latest entry in the series, "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes," but whose presence looms large over the story.

"Kingdom" takes its cues from those latest Caesar-forward entries in the "Apes" saga, building a fresh world from the component parts left behind by the last installment of the series, 2017's "War for the Planet of the Apes." The new film is a rich, soulful, smart adventure with an engaging story, brought to life by marvelous visuals, and "Apes" fans going back several generations — to the original '60s and '70s sci-fi series — will find a summer blockbuster they can sink their teeth into. Caesar would be proud.

Noa, voiced and motion captured by Owen Teague, is a young member of a chimp tribe which raises eagles as spirit guides, protectors and fellow friends. It's "many generations" after the death of Caesar, who was raised by humans and preached a message of peace, and a lab created disease has mostly wiped out people and left the world to the animals.

In an early sequence, Noa is out palling around with a couple of his buds, hunting for bird eggs, and director Wes Ball (the "Maze Runner" films) wonderfully captures the naturalistic beauty — and the lurking danger — of their world. Back at their village, Noa aims to please his father Koro (Neil Sandilands), but is shown he still has much to learn about being a leader.

A fleeting encounter with a human leads an army of forceful apes to Noa's village, and they leave it burned to the ground. This sends Noa on his hero's journey, where he joins forces with Raka (Peter Macon), a wise and seasoned orangutan (who is a devout follower of Caesar), as well as Nova (Freya Allan), the feral human whose presence led to the destruction of his home, whom he has to learn to trust.

Together, they look to take down the group of evil apes, led by the power hungry Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), who takes the word of Caesar and uses it for his own gain, and commanded by Sylva (Eka Darville), his first-in-command silverback general.

"KotPotA" works on all levels, with a script by Josh Friedman that is centered on Noa's adventure that lets us experience the world through his eyes. The visuals, brought to life by hundreds of VFX artists, are convincingly lifelike: the apes convey emotion, their movements are realistic, their battles have meaning and consequences. And the rotting vestiges of human life left behind in the world — an abandoned shopping mall, a hollowed out planetarium, a decaying cruise ship — are rendered as eerie reminders that over a long enough time period, humans are just renters of this space, not owners.

Since being brought back to life in 2011, "Apes" has proved to be a thoughtful, resonant franchise, and this new chapter picks up where the previous entries left off. If it's not quite as heady or metaphor-heavy as "War," but it still has plenty of ideas to play around with — chiefly about religion and how teachings are twisted by individuals — and it introduces a new set of characters worthy of investment.

Ball steers the ship with confidence, and "Kingdom" does what it's meant to do: inject new energy into the franchise and get us primed for more. There's still plenty of life left in this "Planet" after all.

agraham@detroitnews.com

'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'

GRADE: B

Rated PG-13: for intense sequences of sci-fi violence/action

Running time: 145 minutes

In theaters