Many generations after the fall of humankind and the rise, dawn, and war of an ape civilization, the chimpanzee Noah (Owen Teague) lives among a small clan of eagle-rearing apes. When the village is attacked, and the survivors abducted, Noah embarks on a quest across the remnants of human civilization to bring his family home.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes marks the continuation of 20th Century’s iconic film franchise, following the conclusion of a very well-regarded trilogy of films made between 2011 and 2017. Those films ended rather neatly with an ape exodus from the Californian coast to a new homeland away from what was left of the human race. That 20th Century have returned seven years later to follow up on that trilogy indicates that Walt Disney, which bought the studio in 2019, fully intends to keep the saga going with more films. Kingdom ends with an awful lot of foreshadowing, so barring a box office disaster I suspect there are many more ape adventures on the horizon.

It is not precisely clear how far into the future Kingdom is set: an on-screen caption simply makes reference to ‘many generations later’. Certainly by this stage what is left of the human cities have either collapsed or been swallowed up by greenery, and those remnants have been variously re-purposed to accommodate the loose civilization of chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas, and bonobos. Humans, who were decimated by a virus, have reverted to a primitive and non-verbal existence. It is an effective set-up that not only brings the series closer to the status quo of the 1968 original – there are more than a few grace notes that refer to it – but also sufficiently distinguishes the new film from the previous three.

It is a beautifully realised future, thanks to strong production design and excellent digital effects. It is so beautiful, in fact, that director Wes Ball perhaps spends a little too much time luxuriating it the various landscapes, environments, and vistas. At 145 minutes the film seems to drag: time is wasted on elements that ultimately seem peripheral, while precious little time is spent exploring the new feudal existence into which Noah stumbles. Kingdom is very big on signaling issues of racism, democracy, and personal rights, but seems nowhere as keen to explore what those issues might actually mean. While there is some action, it feels less central than in earlier films. With 10-15 minutes judiciously edited out of it, there would be a much more dramatic and engaging work here.

The motion-capture performances are, once again, excellent. Peter Macon is excellent as the philosophical orangutan Raka, as is Kevin Durand as the villainous Proximus Caesar. The facial expressions of the characters are great – occasionally jaw-dropping – and reflect continuing improvement in both the artistry and technology of digital animation. If there is a fault, it is when the film relies too heavily on the CGI. A few sequences clearly use visual effects for both the characters and their surroundings, and every time it thrusts the film deep into an uncanny valley of artificiality. Kingdom features a much smaller number of human characters than previous instalments, and their presence is honestly missed. If nothing else, they provide a break from all of the halting, deliberate ape voices.

This is an enjoyable continuation of the Apes story, but for every element that works there seems to be a shortfall or misjudgement. With measured expectations it is a decent piece of work. Expecting a film entirely on par with the preceding trilogy will only lead to disappointment.