- Directed by: Wes Bell
- Written by: Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
- Stars: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand
- Run Time: 2 Hours, 25 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtFI7SNtVpY
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Hundreds of years have passed since the last movie, and the apes can talk pretty well now as well as sign. It has a little bit of a slow start spending time getting to know what the world is like now. Then things pick up for one ape in particular where it’s one thing after the other. This movie continues the story nicely, with effects on par with the previous movies. We both thought it was quite a good sequel.
Spoilery Synopsis
We get an on-screen text snippet that rehashes the first three films. Humans have lost their intellect and the ability to speak, and apes now rule the Earth. We open on Caesar’s funeral, just after the end of the previous film. Credits roll.
Many generations later… The world has gotten very green and all natural now. We watch a trio of apes stalking an eagle’s eggs. Soona picks one of the eggs and Anaya takes the other. Noa goes without this time– but he finds another nest. That goes badly when the eagle returns. They intend to raise the birds.
When the trio get back to their horses, they notice a blanket is missing. It’s not an ape, and this scares them. They ride back to Ape Town and the children all want to see the eggs. Noa’s father, Koro, is the Master of Birds. Noa tells him and the elders about the “Echos” that may have come into the valley. They send Oda, a really big ape, to scare them away.
That night, Noa sees a human in the smokehouse, and his egg gets smashed. That’s really bad for the bonding ceremony tomorrow. He goes off in search of another egg. He finds Oda, who dies almost immediately; there are enemies coming. Sylva and Lightning, two apes from another clan, along with their masked army, ride toward Noa’s village. By the time Noa makes it home, his whole village is in flames.
Noa helps his father release all the birds before Sylva comes in. Sylva attacks both of them together, and Koro soon dies. Sylva yells, “For Caesar!”
By morning, there’s not much left of the burned village. Noa vows to save his captured people from Caesar. He rides his horse through the tunnel, into the “Forbidden” territory, which turns out to be an old, overgrown human city. The enemy apes definitely rode this way. Noa’s father’s big eagle, Sun, follows him.
He runs into an orangutan, Raka, who hates the apes in the masks, who killed his friend. Raka has books, an ancient way to store ideas, and he’s been working to understand. Raka explains who Caesar was, and the new ape who calls himself that. He talks about a time when apes and humans lived side by side, but not anymore. The original Caesar is sort of a demigod in Raka’s views.
As the two apes ride on, they notice a human is following them. Raka’s all about the humans, but Noa thinks they’re just scavengers. They feed the human and give it a blanket. Raka names her Nova. “We name them all Nova. I don’t know why. It’s from Caesar’s time. Caesar legend important.”
The two, now with Nova, eventually come upon a herd of primitive humans. Raka decides to stay with them and teach. As Noa rides off, he hears a horn blowing. Sylva and his goons attack the humans with nets, much as in the first film. They especially want Nova, and Noa rescues her. Even Raka gets in on the fighting. Sylva is not pleased.
In the fight, Nova calls out with Noa’s name, and it turns out she can talk and still has her full intelligence. She comes from an encampment of humans like her. Also, she says her name is Mae.
The bad apes attack the trio on a bridge, and Raka gets swept away in the river. Noa and Mae are captured and taken to a huge, rusty tanker ship that’s the main base for the bad apes. Noa reunites with Soona and his mother in the prison, and Mae is taken to an old human man, Trevaythan, who also can talk. He’s been helping the apes with technology.
Caesar, the new one anyway, comes out, wearing his crown, and he makes a big entrance. Proximus Caesar knows some of the old Caesar’s words, “Apes together strong.” He’s got all his people working on opening a huge sealed vault in the side of the mountain. Mae knows that this is the bunker where the human leaders went when the world fell apart; it’s full of old weapons and technology. Trevathan knows this, and he says it’s too late for humanity, so he helps the apes.
Noa is taken to Proximus, who’s having dinner with Mae and Trevathan. Proximus thinks the things in the vault will give him “instant evolution.” He has big plans for his kingdom, including wiping out the remaining humans.
Noa confronts Mae about why she’s really there. Mae wants a special book out of that vault; it might restore the humans’ ability to speak. He introduces her to Soona. Anaya comes along as well. Trevathan catches them mining the seawall and tells them that Proximus will just rebuild it. This results in her killing him.
Mae knows a way into the vault, a forgotten air vent. They four go in. She soon turns on the generator and powers the place up. They walk through a bunker full of tanks and weapons and then open the big doors to the outside, where Sylva, Lightning, and Proximus have Noa’s mother as hostage. Mae shoots Lightning, which impresses everyone; they don’t have guns.
Mae runs outside and blows up the seawall, flooding the beach, the apes, and the vault. The good apes all run and climb as high as they can within the silo. Sylva shows up and chases Noa all over the place. Noa tricks Sylva into a tight spot and drowns the big gorilla. Eventually, all the good apes climb up to the ventilation shaft we saw earlier.
This is where Proximus grabs Noa and throws him all over. The many other apes don’t get involved, but then Noa starts singing the song of the eagles, and the rest of the clan joins in. The big eagles swoop down and attack Proximus, who goes over the side of the cliff.
Noa and the Eagle Clan return to their land and rebuild their village. Mae stops by to talk to Noa about Raka and Caesar. He gives her Raka’s necklace, “Important.” She leaves and rides home to her people with the satellite code key thing she took from the bunker. They use it to reactivate a whole array of giant satellite dishes and call for help. They contact Fort Wayne.
Noa and Soona ride off as well, following her. They go to the observatory to look through the telescopes.
Brian’s Commentary
In the previous trilogy, Caesar did most of the talking, in this one, they all do it, and it’s a little weird. It takes place roughly 300 years after the previous film. As before, there are numerous callbacks to previous films, mostly the original.
It doesn’t have any of the characters from the previous film, as it’s intended as a new trilogy. Overall, it’s an interesting expansion on what came before, and I’m interested in seeing more.
Kevin’s Commentary
This almost felt like what could be the start of a new trilogy. The story was quite good with lots of action. The effects continue to be impressive. Being hundreds of years in the future, none of the characters from the previous movies are still around, but we get to know the new bunch easily enough. They really built those electric systems and lights in that bunker to last after sitting there idle for that long and easily coming on with the throwing of a switch – it’s best not to think about the technology aspect and pick on that, it gets worse the more you think about it. That aside, I’d give it a thumbs up.