At least this doesn't look like another variation on "Apes running around in the dark Vancouver forest with Gary Oldman/Woody Harrelson screaming at them" -- even if the animation looks a little like they've dropped everybody into the AVATAR machine.
Personally I'd just remake the original movie at this point -- maybe that's next -- but after 2 movies of basically the same narrative line, at least this looks different (and familiar at the same time).
KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - Andy's Review
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AndyDursin
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- Location: RI
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AndyDursin
- Posts: 34328
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Re: KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - May 10 - Trailer
Another trailer, all that's missing is some astronaut from the distant past crash landing.
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AndyDursin
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Re: KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - Memorial Day - Trailer
Reviews are in and they're mostly really good!
I'm up for this. WAR bored me but the change in setting and the fact we're actually getting the PLANET OF THE APES this time has me interested.
I'm up for this. WAR bored me but the change in setting and the fact we're actually getting the PLANET OF THE APES this time has me interested.
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AndyDursin
- Posts: 34328
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Re: KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - Memorial Day
7/10
The very definition of "servicebale," Wes Ball's continuation of the modern-day APES retains its mostly humorless, glum tone as post-pandemic apes butt heads with a few stray humans running about. The audience here follows one thoughtful simian named Noah as he tries to save his "Eagle Clan" after they're captured by the tyrannical "Proximus Caesar" who's distorting the name of the original, all the while a mysterious human girl (Freya Allen, quite good) tails his quest for redemption.
The motion capture and VFX are all solid as usual and Ball's action set pieces are mostly well done. The issue is a bloated, needlessly prolonged running time and Josh Friedman's simple screenplay, which is too straightforward and really devoid of any interesting dramatic elements to maintain audience engagement, punctuated by a near total lack of surprises.
As a result, kids might enjoy this more than the other entries, but its ridiculous 2.5 hour running time is absurd given how thin the picture is -- if you've watched the trailer, you've basically seen it all. Some smart pruning -- you could EASILY remove a half-hour from the film's slack pacing -- would have helped though there's also a nagging sense, as with the previous installment, that its adherence to a standard action formula robs the source material of its inherent inventiveness and playful elements, which even the Tim Burton film recognized.
It's cut-and-paste, comic book like action, solemnly and competently delivered, but little more.
The very definition of "servicebale," Wes Ball's continuation of the modern-day APES retains its mostly humorless, glum tone as post-pandemic apes butt heads with a few stray humans running about. The audience here follows one thoughtful simian named Noah as he tries to save his "Eagle Clan" after they're captured by the tyrannical "Proximus Caesar" who's distorting the name of the original, all the while a mysterious human girl (Freya Allen, quite good) tails his quest for redemption.
The motion capture and VFX are all solid as usual and Ball's action set pieces are mostly well done. The issue is a bloated, needlessly prolonged running time and Josh Friedman's simple screenplay, which is too straightforward and really devoid of any interesting dramatic elements to maintain audience engagement, punctuated by a near total lack of surprises.
As a result, kids might enjoy this more than the other entries, but its ridiculous 2.5 hour running time is absurd given how thin the picture is -- if you've watched the trailer, you've basically seen it all. Some smart pruning -- you could EASILY remove a half-hour from the film's slack pacing -- would have helped though there's also a nagging sense, as with the previous installment, that its adherence to a standard action formula robs the source material of its inherent inventiveness and playful elements, which even the Tim Burton film recognized.
It's cut-and-paste, comic book like action, solemnly and competently delivered, but little more.