Planet of the Apes: Reign delivers a captivating and technically impressive adventure

The task of Planet of the Apes: Reign it wasn’t easy. The mission was to continue one of the most praised trilogies in cinema. And more, in the director’s rear view mirror Wes Ball was not just Matt Reevesbut also the iconic performance of Andy Serkis as César and an impeccable motion capture work that became a hallmark of the series. It wasn’t easy, but things turned out better than expected for the new film.

The intelligent choice of placing the new story “many generations” after Caesar, helps The Reign to have more freedom to tell an original story that, even though it is always surrounded by the shadow of the old protagonist, takes on a life of its own and an identity very different from the previous films. . Forget the snow or rainy/cloudy weather from past chapters. Noah’s Story (Owen Teagues) is sunny and colorful. The world filled with vegetation is green and vibrant. This change in colors also reflects a change in tone, less dramatic and more adventurous.

We follow Noa, a chimpanzee who lives with his clan, a tribe of monkeys who train eagles and are isolated from the world. Its sign of maturity, as in several community stories, such as Avatar, for example, is in a task. In this case, stealing an eagle egg from a nest. This introduction to the new protagonist already shows us what to expect from the film. It’s a fantastic scene, with cutting-edge special effects and Wes Ball’s incredible sense of perspective and proportion.

Just like classic stories of this type, the tribe is attacked and Noa needs to venture “into the outside world” to free her people. Less of a messianic journey, like Caesar’s, and more of a hero’s journey, The Reign soon puts Noa in contact with Raka (Peter Macon), an ape who shows him that there is a past in a world bigger than he knew and that Caesar, the first and the leader, commanded the apes to freedom. Noa begins to be catechized with this holy vision until he meets Mae (Freya Allan), a human who proves to be more intelligent than the others who still inhabit the Earth.

Wes Ball takes as much time as possible to present this side of the story to us. The forest side. The free side of the world that managed to expand with the end of humanity.

Then, one of the most interesting factors in the film comes into play: Proximus César (Kevin Durand). The leader of the “Reinado” and responsible for capturing the people of Noa, uses all the symbolism and mythology surrounding Caesar to command his slaves. It’s a shame that this image of a false heir to the former leader’s legacy is little used in history. Proximus’s sermon in its first scene directly reflects on false leaders and charlatans who usurp other people’s speech and faith for their own sake. Or worse, in favor of a cause that he claims to be for the whole, but in reality, is not even close to that. Proximus’ objective and Mae’s mission end up taking away space from a discussion that could make Noa’s new belief and conclusion about Caesar even more interesting, giving even more strength to some decisions in the final moments.

What really impresses and is above average in O Reign are the special effects. Freya Allan had already said in an interview with Chippu that Wes Ball was a perfectionist, but what you see on screen is work on the same level as the previous films and at times even higher. The amount of digital elements that are impressively photorealistic is huge. From monkeys to scenes filled with vegetation and other environments such as a river or the beach, the film constantly plays with our eyes as they try to guess what is real or not. There are close-ups and close-up details of the apes’ eyes and hands that are jaw-dropping.

Impressive in action and with a friendly and captivating story, Planet of the Apes: Reign The only drawback is the very long duration and the lack of depth in its themes. Final à laChristopher Nolan It will leave everyone on the edge of their seats, but there is a hint that something more could come from there. Maybe in the next one, you won’t have to explain several times who Caesar is, what the virus was and what its consequences were for humanity. But for now, just like the previous trilogy, it’s a very promising start. And what is perhaps the best possible compliment, leaves us eager to see the next chapter.