The review embargo has been lifted for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and critics are finally having their say about Wes Ball's entry into the long-running sci-fi franchise.
Following in the footsteps of Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves was always going to be a challenge and, for the most part, it sounds like the filmmaker succeeds. However, the main complaint is that, despite taking the series into the future, what we get here is largely more of the same.
It's never great when most reviews conclude by sharing their hopes for a sequel, not due to a hunger for more, but because they believe the next instalment will be better than this one.
Despite those complaints, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes boasts an impressive 81% on Rotten Tomatoes as we write this. The movie clearly succeeds in lots of other areas, and we are seeing a lot of praise for the visual effects and action scenes.
Check out a roundup of reviews below along with the movie's Tomatometer reveal.
What are the critics saying about Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes?
Behind the impressive CGI, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the definition of generic, all two hours and 25 minutes of it. The ending teases a sequel that offers a more intriguing conflict ahead, but that doesn't help us now. [2/5] - BBC
It's less action-heavy than the last trilogy and inevitably more ape-centric, but this is a promisingly chewy start for the latest series of simian thrillers. These apes are still strong. [3/5] - Empire
The film becomes rather jumbled and preposterous by the very end, but not before some perfectly good action sequences, and the CGI ape faces are very good. This franchise has held up an awful lot better than others; now it should evolve to something new. [3/5] - The Guardian
Fans of the franchise should find much to enjoy in this very solid new installment, which points the way forward to a potential new recalibration of the human-ape balance. - The Hollywood Reporter
Caesar may be long dead, but Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes proves there's still a lot of life in these primates. [8/10] - IGN
This is a far cry from the thrill-a-minute blockbuster that its early 'summer' release date might lead you to expect (if the 'Apes' franchise has always unfolded at a different register from the rest of its multiplex competition, that difference has never been more pronounced than it is here), and the pathos simply doesn’t run as deep as it did by the end of Reeves’ trilogy, but the final moments of Ball’s film make it easy to imagine that its sequels could reach similar dramatic heights. [B] - IndieWire
'Kingdom' checks most of the boxes for longtime 'Apes' fans, and newbies don’t need to any prior homework as a standalone story that mostly explains itself. And as humans, you do commiserate with the onscreen apes themselves, because everything felt a little better back when Caesar was around. [3/4] - USA Today
'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' invites us to embrace the drama of apes fighting apes. By the end, though, in what is in effect a teaser for the next sequel, it looks as if the franchise’s blowhard version of the human race will be back after all. That could be enough to make you want to escape from the planet of the apes. - Variety