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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Movie

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

2024 • Action, Adventure, Drama

Woke Score
5.8
out of 10

Plot

Many years after the reign of Caesar, a young ape goes on a journey that will lead him to question everything he's been taught about the past and make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

Overall Series Review

The film continues the franchise’s tradition of using a species role-reversal to deliver social commentary on power dynamics, history, and civilization’s inevitable tendency toward corruption and conflict. The protagonist, a young chimpanzee named Noa, embarks on a hero's journey after his clan is attacked by the authoritarian ape leader Proximus Caesar, who has twisted the original Caesar's legacy into a fascist ideology. The human character, Mae, is a central figure who acts independently and with high competence, driving a key aspect of the plot that concerns the re-emergence of human intelligence and the inevitable conflict this causes for the ape kingdom. The movie's main focus is the danger of demagoguery and the distortion of history or faith for political control, with the downfall of human civilization serving as a permanent backdrop warning against self-destruction. The allegories are broad, touching on themes of oppression and the misuse of power, but they are filtered through the non-human/human dynamic rather than a modern, intersectional human lens.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics4/10

The narrative's central conflict is the master/slave role reversal between apes and humans, which functions as a broad species-based allegory for social hierarchy and systemic oppression. Humans are depicted as the de-evolved, primitive species at the bottom of the new order, reflecting the vilification of the former dominant power. This critique is broad and species-based rather than focused on modern human race or immutable characteristics.

Oikophobia8/10

The entire premise of the setting is the downfall of human civilization, directly presenting the ancestors (humanity) as fundamentally self-destructive and corrupt, having brought about their own collapse through the Simian Flu and the wars that followed. The pristine ape communities living in harmony with nature before their destruction are presented as a version of the 'Noble Savage' trope, contrasting with the ruinous legacy of mankind. The intelligent human character's ultimate goal is to retrieve the technology that destroyed the world, signaling a continuation of this self-destructive impulse.

Feminism6/10

The most significant human character is Mae, a hyper-competent and manipulative individual who operates as the primary agent for the surviving intellectual human element. She is a 'Girl Boss' archetype who easily outwits the ape protagonists and drives the plot forward with her own secret and pivotal mission. This character is the most self-assured, knowledgeable, and decisive figure in the conflict, positioning the male ape hero as a naive figure learning from her and his ape mentor.

LGBTQ+1/10

There is a complete absence of overt LGBTQ+ or gender ideology themes. The focus of the narrative is entirely on the species conflict, political/historical allegories, and the simple societal structures of the ape clans. Traditional male-female dynamics and family structures are present but not a thematic focus, and there is no lecturing on alternative sexualities or gender theory.

Anti-Theism9/10

The foundational mythology of the ape society is the teachings and persona of Caesar, who has been turned into a Christ-like figure by his followers. The primary antagonist, Proximus Caesar, is a demagogue who explicitly uses a corrupted, dogmatic, and authoritarian interpretation of Caesar's 'sacred' words to justify his violence and tyranny, making the critique of organized faith being manipulated for power a central and explicit theme. The only character who follows a 'true' moral path, the orangutan Raka, is depicted as a lone zealot preserving an uncorrupted version of the 'gospel,' while the mass-market version is used to oppress.