Tag Archives: B

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Producers: Wes Ball, Joe Hartwick, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver and Jason Reed   Director: Wes Ball    Screenplay: Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver and Patrick Aison   Cast: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, William H. Macy, Travis Jeffery, Lydia Peckham, Neil Sandilands, Eka Darville, Ras-Samuel Weld A’abzgi and Dichen Lachman  Distributor: 20th Century Studios

Grade: B

When the prequel trilogy to the “Planet of the Apes” franchise directed by Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves ended with the latter’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” in 2017, it seemed a logical conclusion to the series, a final episode that naturally pointed either to the original 1968 movie, or to Tim Burton’s misguided 2001 reimagining, neither of which anyone with sense could want simply to remake.

But Hollywood being Hollywood, it was unimaginable that after “War” proved a financial success, the franchise could be allowed to die, or even go on a prolonged hiatus.  So in 2019 Disney, the parent under which 20th Century Studios now operated, handed over the reins to Wes Ball (director of the “Maze Runner” trilogy), who enlisted Josh Friedman to pen a screenplay that would be not a reboot but a continuation, taking things past the death of the enlightened chimpanzee Caesar (Andy Serkis), which closes “War,” and hopefully becoming the start of another series (trilogy?) that would cover the gap between the demise of Caesar and the events of the first “Planet.”

The result is this film, which serves only half-heartedly as a stand-alone story and goes awry in its drive for an overblown yet meaningful finale, but succeeds as a technically impressive introduction to inevitable sequels—unless, of course, it stumbles badly at the boxoffice, in which case it would be a one-off with a cliffhanger left dangling.

The hero is Noa (Owen Teague), a young chimpanzee who, “many generations” after Caesar’s death, is among the members of a simian tribe living in a tall wooden tower in a verdant, mountainous wilderness.  He’s the son of Koro (Neil Sandilands), known as the Master of the Birds because of the group’s connection with the eagles that also populate the area.  In fact Noa and his pals Anaya (Travis Jeffery) and Soona (Lydia Peckham) are introduced climbing the craggy cliffs to purloin eggs from an eagle’s nest, which when hatched will cement the bond between the species. 

But outsiders threaten the clan’s idyllic life.  Noa spies a feral human woman (Freta Allan) in the woods during the outing, and when Koro sends out a scouting party to locate her, Noa follows them, only to find them wiped out by a party of helmeted gorilla horsemen led by the savage Sylva (Erik Darville).  They soon undertake an attack on the eagle clan itself, killing Koro and many others while carrying off some, including Anaya, Soona and Noa’s mother, as captives. 

Noa, now alone, ventures on a quest to find the captives and rescue them.  Along the way—through a heavily forested region in which the greenery has overrun remnants of the old human society (a large telescope in a ruined observatory particularly fascinates him)—he encounters another survivor of the rampaging horde, Raka (Peter Macon), a sage old orangutan who venerates the teachings of the legendary Caesar and accompanies Noa on his mission, intending to instruct him along the way.  They, in turn, befriend the woman Noa had earlier seen, who unlike others of her species—rendered primitive savages by the virus unleashed in the previous trilogy that spurred Caesar’s development—reveals herself as the intelligent, articulate Mae.  The three of them now resume the journey, only to encounter Sylva and his forces as they try to cross a bridge.  Noa and Mae survive but are captured, while Raka falls into the raging waters and is presumed killed (a real loss, since he was by far the most engaging character).

They are taken to the realm of the title, ruled by the vain, despotic Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), a bonobo who styles himself as Caesar’s successor though his ambitions are far different.  (One of the wittier elements of the script, though insufficiently explored, is that he’s mimicking the apparatus of the Roman Empire, about which he’s been taught by a professorial human named Trevathan  played by William H. Macy, apparently a specialist in ancient human history who’s become his loyal servant in return for a reasonably comfortable sinecure.)  Proximus is willing to sacrifice anything—his own ape followers, other bonobos, and his chimp slaves, including Anaya and Soona—to open a gigantic vault that he believes houses human learning and technology that can help him prevail over any rivals and jump-start simian evolution.

Up to this point the editing by Dan Zimmerman and Dirk Westervelt has fluctuated between stately and solemn in the more reflective moments, and wildly energetic in the action scenes.  It revs up into near-hysterical mode in the final act, which centers on a scrappy mission undertaken by Mae, Noa, Anaya and Soona to worm their way into the vault and derail Proximus’ plans.  (John Paesano’s capable score goes into overdrive here as well.)  It turns out, however, that one of the conspirators has a secret agenda, and the explosive result is a flood that threatens everyone.  That’s followed by a final confrontation, obligatory perhaps but also likely to strike many viewers as rather laughable, showing that Noa has proven himself worthy to assume his dead father’s leadership mantle in the tribe, and the revelation that Mae isn’t the only human who’s avoided the debilitating effect of the virus.  Further inter- and intra-species hostility seems inevitable; no doubt any future installments will depict it in detail.

So in narrative terms “Kingdom” is a tale of a young chimpanzee’s coming-of-age, and frankly the plot is just one lifted from innumerable revenge Westerns and placed in a new setting.  But it works well enough, largely because the visuals are so impressive.  The Australian locations are captured beautifully in Gyula Pados’ widescreen cinematography, and Daniel T. Dorrance’s production design, along with Mayes C. Rubeo’s costumes, create a properly dystopian ambience   And while the CGI effects supervised by Erik Winquist can get a bit messy in long shots, especially in the big finale (where the editing, too, fails to keep the topography ideally clear), the motion-capture work is masterful, allowing both Teague and Macon to give sensitive, soulful performances (and Duran and Darville ruthless ones) in their computer-generated simian garb.  (The advice of the old master Serkis, who served as a special consultant, must have been invaluable).  Among the humans, Macy could have been better employed—his role seems to have been attenuated in the cutting room—but Allan does a nice job conveying the nuances of a character who becomes more complex as the tale unfolds.

Overall the “Planet of the Apes” reboot that began more than a decade ago has proven a remarkably durable enterprise, and this installment, despite some last-act stumbles, is a solid expansion of it.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS: PART II – MILADY (Les trois mousquetaires: Milady)

Producer: Dimitri Rassam   Director: Martin Bourboulon   Screenplay: Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière   Cast: François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Marmaï, Eva Green, Louis Garrel, Vicky Krieps, Lyna Khoudri, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Éric Ruf, Marc Barbé, Patrick Mille, Julien Frison, Ralph Amoussou, Camille Rutherford, Ivan Franek, Gabriel Almaer, Thibault Vinçon, Ruben da Silva and Alexis Michalik     Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Grade: B

Every screen version of Dumas’ classic 1844 adventure novel makes changes to the story, and this two-part adaptation by scripters Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière and director Martin Bourboulon is no exception.  Yet overall it’s more faithful than most, and rather than lightening the tone of the swashbuckler set in the seventeenth-century French religious as most of the others have done, it actually darkens the mood, both visually and emotionally.  The result might not satisfy purists, but on its own terms it works well.

This second installment begins where the first left off, with an attempted assassination of King Louis XIII (Louis Garrel) foiled and Constance (Lyna Khoudri) abducted despite the attempt of D’Artagnan (François Civil) to prevent her being taken.  When D’Artagnan forces the Count of Chalais (Patrick Mille), head of the Catholic League, to take him to a dungeon where he hopes to find Constance, he instead finds Milady de Winter (Eva Green), whom he had confronted in England in the previous installment, in chains; they escape together, and have an amorous night in the forest before she departs, only to reappear periodically as the narrative proceeds—thus the subtitle.

Meanwhile Louis announces his intention to attack the rebel stronghold at La Rochelle, bestowing the command on his brother Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Julien Frison). Athos (Vincent Cassel) goes to do battle there after visiting his young son Joseph (Ruben da Silva), taking his leave after they visit the grave of the boy’s mother together.  D’Artagnan, Porthos (Pio Marmaï) and Aramis (Romain Duris) proceed to the city as well, and so does Milady, who’s revealed as the wife that Athos had thought dead—Joseph’s mother—and an agent in the employ of Cardinal Richelieu (Éric Ruf), who orders her to assassinate the Duke of Buckingham (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd), an ally of the French Protestants, and—as the first film showed—the lover of Louis’ queen, Anne (Vicky Krieps).

Much of the action in “Milady” centers on the siege at La Rochelle, where betrayals by conspirators must be foiled with the help of Prince Hannibal (Ralph Amoussou) and attempts by Buckingham to resupply the Protestants by sea must be disrupted.  But the scene changes at one point to England, where the Queen has sent Constance to remain under the Duke’s protection even as Milady arrives there to kill him; after her plan fails, she persuades the naïve young woman to assist her escape, with disastrous consequences.

Time is also made for family business.  Athos is, of course, concerned about the return of Milady to his life and that of his son; but he must also deal with his brother Benjamin (Gabriel Almaer), a Protestant rebel who rescued him when he was in peril of execution.  Benjamin is captured, along with a comrade, by Gaston, and sentenced to death by drowning.  Athos, with the help of his friends, must save him, despite the danger doing so poses.  Meanwhile Aramis is called upon to avenge the dishonor done to his sister Mathilde (Camille Rutherford) when she becomes pregnant by a soldier (Alexis Michalik) who declines to make an honest woman of her, leaving her to take the veil.  That problem is resolved by tweaking Dumas’ projected futures for both Aramis and Porthos, and Mathilde as well, in an amusing fashion. 

There’s also another trial to contend with—that of Captain Tréville (Marc Barbé)—along with the eventual unmasking of the true villain of the piece, whose identity is frankly made obvious early on.  As in the book, D’Artagnan ends up with his original dream of becoming a musketeer fulfilled, although its achievement is marred by a sad loss along the way.  

Though she disappears for considerable stretches from the plot, Milady’s role here, as the title indicates, is substantial, and the makers make a major change in her fate, which perhaps unwisely leaves open the possibility of a sequel involving her and Athos.  Nonetheless it has to be admitted that Green seizes every opportunity the part provides her with, embracing the sinister yet seductive woman’s cunning to the hilt, as well as the chance to challenge Civil’s D’Artagnan in swordsmanship as well as trying to draw him into a romantic entanglement.  As in the first film, the rest of the cast is equally capable, making for an ensemble that’s excellent across the board; standouts are Civil, as the eager, passionate D’Artagnan, Cassel as the morose, world-weary Athos and Frison as the smarmy Gaston.

Though “Milady” isn’t as stuffed with rain and mud as its predecessor, it doesn’t beautiful the seventeenth-century milieu, although the interiors provided by production designer Stéphane Taillasson are once again elaborate and Thierry Delettre’s costumes extravagant.  This is essentially a dark, somber film in mood—much more so than many previous versions of the story on screen. 

It’s also impressive from the purely physical perspective.  The cast and filmmakers pull off some remarkably vivid action moments, which, though undoubtedly utilizing trickery, look uncannily real; one of D’Artagnan’s early escapes, in which the camera follows him as he jumps from a castle’s high walls into a river below without any obvious cuts, shows how much more satisfying actual human stunt work is than the CGI bombast that afflicted, for example, Paul W.S. Anderson’s misguided 2011 “Musketeers.”  Kudos to cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc and editor Stan Collet, as well as to Guillaume Roussel for his exciting score, even if Bolduc’s penchant for shots of the musketeers riding their steeds through the countryside against the horizon (or sometimes from the sky above) is sometimes taken to an extreme.  

In all, a solid conclusion to the fine 2023 “D’Artagnan”—or, given the ending, perhaps the second chapter of an eventual trilogy.