About 300 years after War of the Planet of the Apes, young ape Noa (Owen Teague) is forced to search for his family when they are kidnapped and his home village razed to the ground. On his journey, he meets human Mae (Freya Allan), a seemingly mute human as they both make their way to a beachfront ape colony next to an old human vault. There, they encounter the colony’s self-proclaimed king, Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), who wants to open the vault and access the technology inside to advance the ape civilisation.

Maze Runner director Ball, replacing previous helmer Matt Reeves, effectively stages the film’s many action sequences, such as the raid on Noa’s home and the climax in the human vault, with the same verve and style as before. In particular, an early sequence involving Noa and his friends collecting eagle eggs contains a number of impressive aerial shots that highlight the dizzying physical stakes and heighten the overall tension, a far remove from the criticisms hurled at the flat cinematography of Marvel films.

The world-building is also impressive, especially the early establishment of Noa’s tree-based village society and their connection to birdlife, as well as Proximus’ more technologically advanced proto-kingdom and his adoption/mutation of human phrases.

The performances are all excellent, especially from Teague, who provides Noa with an emotional depth that makes the character seem ironically more human. Durand and William H Macy also impress, with the former chewing the scenery in a menacing fashion as the power-crazed Proximus and the latter providing an understated counterpoint to Mae that could easily have been played as overtly villainous.

Allan herself also skilfully conveys Mae’s initial nonverbal vulnerability and her slowly revealed moral ambiguity without the transition appearing jarring or either aspect feeling unconvincing. Her confrontations with Macy in particular allow Allan to show a sudden aggressiveness that adds a further layer to Macy’s character and make her more fleshed out as a result. However, the dexterity of Allan’s performance is not matched by the writing of her character development, which over-relies on a large exposition dump late in the film to reveal her true nature rather than conveying the information in a slower, more naturalistic manner.

This issue aside, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a worthy follow-up to the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise that provides the kind of intelligent, emotionally engaging blockbuster entertainment most equivalents can only dream of.

In cinemas nationwide now