'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' review: Spectacular comeback for dormant franchise 

Humans never come off looking too good in the “Planet of the Apes” movies. In the first film, from 1968, they nuked themselves back to a primitive state, then watched their simian cousins bypass them in intelligence. In the recently rebooted series, humans unleashed a virus that did much the same thing, though enough of them would survive to form a bizarre military death-cult (memorably led by Woody Harrelson). Always in these movies we give in to our worst instincts: wastefulness, cruelty, playing God.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” takes that as a given. The first film in the franchise since 2017 (and the tenth overall), it tells the story of Noa (Owen Teague), a young chimpanzee living among the Eagle Clan — so named for their ability to train and control the majestic birds. There’s a human named Mae (Freya Allan) who scurries around like a rodent, but she doesn’t seem like much of a threat (yet). Death and destruction come in the form of Proximus, an ape-warlord (played by an excellent Kevin Durand) who sets Noa’s village ablaze and hauls off the survivors to serve as slaves in his remote compound.

As Noa sets out on horseback to rescue his loved ones, “Kingdom” seems to be firmly in Mel Gibson territory. Things take a twist when Noa meets Raka, a wise and wry orangutan (there’s always one) played by a very good Peter Macon, who informs him that history is more complicated than he thinks. (The name of Caesar, from the earlier films, means different things to different apes.) Even Mae turns out to be more than just a pest: She not only speaks, she knows where Noa’s clan mates are being held.

Director Wes Ball, of the “Maze Runner” films, has the post-apocalypse down pat: This movie is filled with little hints of humanity (stonework, I-beams, bas reliefs) hidden in the jungle overgrowth. The motion-capture effects, by Weta FX (“Avatar” and countless other blockbusters), are subtler and more impressive than ever, with little physical stiffness and much visible emotion in the eyes. Josh Friedman’s screenplay comes with a bit of heft, nodding to themes of ambition and power. (William H. Macy takes a small role as Trevathan, a human who has fallen all too willingly under Proximus’ spell.)

Someone once described Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” as the world’s most useful metaphor. The “Planet of the Apes” movies might run a close second. Near the end of “Kingdom,” human and ape stand face to face, full of mutual distrust precisely because each sees something of himself in the other. With that idea at its core, this franchise could keep running forever.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com@raferguzman