'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' and the Weaponization of Caesar
Kelsi and Trey discuss Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes as a successful adventure epic that thrills with its digital world-building and provokes with its subversive interrogations of the audience's relationship to Caesar. This is the 10th Apes installment and arguably one of the most ambitious of the 21st century; a compelling evolution conceptually and visually from its recent predecessors while also introducing audiences to a new set of characters with mysterious motivations–a true Apes movie that is in conversation with the radical 1968-73 films as Ball’s reinvention is unafraid to be a bit scathing in its commentary on fundamentalism and the white savior archetype. (3:30) Non-Spoiler Reaction (26:13) Timeline of the Apes Universe (33:44) Spoilers Start (Prologue) (34:30) World-building and Eagle Clan (01:01:30) Adventure Epic and Raka (01:10:00) Caesar Mythology (01:30:08) White Savior Subversion (01:46:15) Proximus and his Kingdom (02:07:00) The Epilogue Become a member of The Extra Credits+ on Patreon here Letterboxd: The Extra Credits Instagram: @theextracredits Twitter: @theextracredits Send requests, questions, and thoughts to our email: extracreditspod@gmail.com