May Movie Pick: 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'

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Of course, I haven't seen the first movies, and given how old they are and their aesthetics, I doubt that I can handle them. Years ago, I saw the Caesar trilogy, but I never understood what happened. I don't like James Franco at all, and I was just glad that they skipped his character and moved on. This year, I saw the trailer for the new movie 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,' and I thought to myself that it looked great. We bought tickets and saw it. Even though I've seen the Caesar trilogy a couple of times, those movies just couldn't find a place in my memory.

After seeing 'Kingdom' in the movie theater, I was very much captured by the visual effects and the story. The realistic take on the monkeys and the apes is mind-blowing. The gorillas are freaking scary. And even though the movie kind of bombed, just like 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,' I thought both were much better viewing experiences and good movies overall than some of my previous tries at the multiplex. I found the new story captivating, the human characters complex, and the roles overall played perfectly.

Where will I put the last movie, given that it is part of this world and extends the story? I will put it right behind the last of the Caesar trilogy. With each movie of the last three, the quality and storytelling got better and more interesting. I got to know Andy Serkis's Caesar, and by the end, I was absolutely involved in his revenge and inner struggle to keep the moral rules he had played by the whole time. This made the story complex and challenging because of the moral quarrel not to become what you fear, and to remain good in the face of evil. I just love the last movie. The new one is up there, and it has the potential to overthrow it easily if we have the luck of seeing the story unfold. What I love about this movie is that it made me rewatch the franchise and also made me totally fall in love with it. Now I am involved in the story, I remember what happened, and it was thrilling to discover what went down before Noah and Nova.

It's incredible to see what you can do with such a budget. Just like 'Avatar' and 'Alita: Battle Angel,' this franchise heavily relies on motion capture and VFX. With similar technology, I was easily transported to these worlds, creating an escapism moment. This is what a movie is supposed to do: transport you for its duration and tackle subjects and situations that are familiar, not forgetting that it is entertainment after all. I really hope that another movie is in the works, and we are able to discover more of this world.


Iliya Badev

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