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Planet of the Apes Movies, Ranked
Where does Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes stack up in the original sci-fi blockbuster franchise?
Made at a time when the threat of nuclear war was a hot-button issue, Beneath winds up being an effective exploration of those anxieties, bringing society’s worst fears to reality and delivering the most shocking and pessimistic conclusion in the history of the franchise. As the first film in a planned trilogy, Rise spends a lot of time establishing its universe rather than thriving in it, and its human characters are largely one-note, but the bond between Caesar and Will is one of the more emotionally satisfying relationships in all of Apedom. Steve Zahn’s Bad Ape feels more like studio interference trying to prevent War from being too bleak than a real character, but the film is still a masterful conclusion to a brilliant and underappreciated trilogy.
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