Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Story

Many years after the death of Caesar, the apes have developed into several clans, while the humans are living a feral life. Noa (Owen Teague), a chimpanzee from the Eagle clan, undertakes a coming-of-age ritual with his friends, Anaya (Travis Jeffery) and Soona (Lydia Peckham), to gather eagles’ eggs to take back to their clan. On returning to their clan, the 3 friends are followed by a human girl. Noa confronts the girl and a tussle occurs that results in the breaking of Noa’s egg. He must return to find another but while he’s away his clan is attacked by a large and intimidating ape named Sylva (Eka Darville) and his masked followers. Noa’s village is burnt to the ground, all of his clan are captured, and his father, Koro (Neil Sandilands), leader of the Eagle clan, is killed.

Noa sets out on a journey to find his clan and along the way he meets a wise Orangutan named Raka (Peter Macon) who teaches Noa about Caesar’s enlightened ways. They discover the girl is still following and Raka welcomes her to join them. They name her Nova, but her real name is Mae (Freya Allen), and they are surprised to discover she can speak. Mae promises to take them to where Noa’s clan is being held captive by another large ape who has proclaimed himself to be Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand). Proximus is making the apes work as slaves, attempting to open a vault that holds many of the original human race’s technological secrets. Mae has her own reasons to enter the vault but she needs to keep Noa on her side as they battle against Proximus and his large army.

Themes

Science fiction; the fall of the human race; animals and humans in peril

Violence

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has a lot violence. For example:

Noa is attacked by an eagle, causing him to lose his grip, and he falls from the top of a mountain but manages to hang on to a tree branch.
Sylva and his tribe attack Noa’s village, setting it on fire and throwing spears. Dead apes are seen lying on the ground and an ape is seen with a knife in his back before he falls to the ground, dead.
One of Sylva’s tribe spears Noa’s horse.
A large fireball lands next to Noa but he is unhurt. Sylva attacks Noa with an electric prod. Sylva then confronts Koro and they fight. Sylva uses the electric prod on Koro and Noa joins the fight. Noa is squashed to the ground, unable to breathe, when Koro jumps on Sylva to release him. Sylva retaliates, viciously thumping Koro and killing him. Sylva physically throws Noa out to the way. Noa falls to the valley floor and is seen with blood on his face.
Noa falls into a trap at the bottom of which is a fire burning. He’s injured by the fall.
Sylva and his masked warriors chase after the humans and capture them with nets. Several people are knocked down in the chase.
Sylva attacks Noa, Raka and Mae, and Mae is pushed into a fast-flowing river. Raka jumps in to save her, but perishes himself.
Mae attacks and kills another human who is about to betray her.
Proximus and his tribe attack Noa and his friends after they manage to open the door of the vault from the inside. Proximus has Noa tied up and holds a knife to his throat. Mae shoots at the ape holding Noa and kills him.
Mae sets off a huge explosion that destroys the sea wall, resulting in water pouring into the vault. Many apes are seen being washed away in the fast-moving water. Sylva chases after Noa and they fight underwater. Sylva is seen trapped and drowning.
Noa and his eagle clan escape to higher ground, only to find Proximus waiting for them there. Proximus attacks Noa and viciously thumps him, throws and drags him. Noa has blood on his face and is choking.
Noa calls to his eagle friends, who attack Proximus, pecking and biting at him. Proximus falls off the cliff into the sea.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no substance use in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity and sexual activity in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Coarse language

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has some coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a science fiction, dystopian action movie in which the Eagle clan try to follow Ceasar’s law, that apes should not kill other apes. But not all ape clans do the same. The apes are amazingly realistic, and the theory of humans being reduced to lower than the apes by a Simian Flu is quite disturbing. Younger viewers will find the movie quite scary and it’s therefore unsuitable for children under 10 years and recommended for older teens and adults.

These are the main messages from Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes:

Good always overcomes evil.
It’s important to fight for your own beliefs.

Values in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes that you could reinforce with your children are decency, morality, strength, compassion, bravery, courage, friendship, teamwork, tolerance and kindness.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes could also give you the chance to talk with your children about why the apes have separated into different tribal groups and why Proximus holds so much power over many of the tribes – and why this human tendency of evil rulers wanting to dominate everybody has taken hold in the ape kingdom.