I watched the previous Planet of the Apes movies, so when I saw this one advertised, I was immediately intrigued by the trailer. I have to say, though, that the impression I got from the trailer was not, in fact, what happened in the movie, which I assumed was about a human (or an ‘Echo’) randomly gaining intelligence/the ability to speak and being hunted by apes.

I really liked Noa’s character. It was really easy to care about him and him trying to get an eagle egg, so as to prove himself to his father. I felt so much for him when the egg he’d managed to collect was broken. While it might have been a good thing to an extent, considering he had to leave his village to get another egg and avoided being involved in the main attack, I really felt for him after he’d worked so hard to get the egg in the first place.

One thing I found really interesting about this movie was how much Caesar’s teachings had been changed/twisted by the time Noa’s generation had reached their majority. Noa and his clan had no idea about Caesar, but the ape that Noa meets later, Raka, informs him about Caesar’s teachings…but also gets certain aspects of them wrong, especially since Nova was only the name of one human the apes adopted into their tribe, and not what they called every human they came across.

Speaking of the humans, or the Echoes, it was interesting to see them ‘in the wild’, and acting like…well, like animals. I knew they were going that way, after the last movie in this franchise, but it was still difficult to watch a once intelligent species having sunk so low. I could empathise with Mae when she sees the humans at the watering hole…but that was maybe the only time I could, as I didn’t really find her a relatable or a likable character for most of the movie. While she did ally with some of the apes, it was very obvious that she was following her own agenda…and by the end of the movie, I didn’t like her at all.

I was definitely able to empathise more with Noa’s journey to find his clan and his own purpose than with the plight of the humans in this movie. I think that Mae’s motivations could have been better explored, making her a more sympathetic character; as it stands at the moment, I was definitely more engaged with the plight of the apes than the plight of the humans.

If you enjoyed the previous Planet of the Apes movies, you’ll probably enjoy this movie as well. It definitely focuses more on the apes than on humanity, even if the ending does set it up for humans to play a bigger role in the next movie/s.