Written by Michael Thervil
It looks like the Director Wes Ball of the complex modern-day version of the Planet of The Apes is back at it again with their third action/adventure installment in the modern-day franchise. Picking up after the death of “Caesar”, it seems as if there are no limits to the ape-on-ape tribal disputes on the big screen. In terms of the movie plot, on one hand you have apes that remember Caesar and what he stood for when it comes to the social aspect between apes and humans. The adversarial dichotomy lies in the fact that some apes believe that humans can’t be trusted. For the apes that remember the true legacy of Caesar, they believe that humans can be trusted to a certain extent, and that compassion and patience should be demonstrated between apes and humans alike. Moreover, they believed that peace between apes and humans is possible, despite the past relationships between apes and humans.
In contrast, again, there are apes that believe that humans should never be trusted and that apes have earned the bio-evolution credence (due to a manmade virus) to not only govern themselves without the interference and oversight of humans; but they should destroy outright humans when the opportunity presents itself. Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes is a classic film that highlights a segment of society, in this case apes, who can be referred to as “cultural purist”, while the contrasting society of apes can be considered “non-conformist with a distorted perception of reality”. However, it should be stated that beyond the action and drama embedded within this movie, there is a much deeper philosophical debate that's worthy of mention here; and that is: “Are modern day humans in real life any better socially than the apes that took over in the film?”.
The answer to that question is for you to decide, social issues such as racism, the abuse of power and influence, the manipulation of people (in this case apes), unchecked tribalism, the Military Industrial Complex, the over obsession with securing one's self-interest, the never ending quest for knowledge for the use of domination over others and the list of real life social ills that are articulated in the Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes just goes on and on. Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes is a film that is sure to keep your attention throughout its runtime, and it will undoubtedly will be considered a philosophical masterpiece in the future.
The Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes was released May 10th, with a run time of 2 hours 25 minutes and has a PG-13 rating. Moreover, it's distributed by 20th Century Studios and is available to be seen in theaters worldwide earning $58,400,788 on its opening day. It had a production budget of $160 million, it has earned $302,312,115 million worldwide with more international viewership than domestic since it’s release date of May 10th, 2024.
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