It’s been a long time since Caesar, the first smart ape leader, passed away. Now, apes pretty much run the world, but they haven’t created anything super advanced. There’s this character Noa who lives in a small rural community. They hang out on these old power towers covered in plants. Her clan has this cool thing where they train eagles by stealing their eggs and teaching them to listen to the apes’ songs.

But things aren’t all chill for Noa’s crew. This place called Proximus Caesar, led by a military-like dictator with an edge thanks to electric weapons supplied by a captive human, keeps causing trouble for them. They’re hunting for a young woman who ends up escaping with Noa and an old wise orangutan named Raka, who’s got all of Caesar’s wisdom.

The story kind of hints that humans might not be down for the count just yet. A virus messed some of them up big time, turning them into what’s referred to as Echoes because they’re sort of dazed and less developed now. But not everyone was affected equally. Proximus wants to harness what knowledge these few unaffected humans have to boost his power while also being worried about them trying to fight back.

The movie shows that yeah, humans can be pretty sneaky sometimes. But given their tough situation, you kind of get why they act that way. It’s setting up some juicy stuff for future sequels!
The movie takes you on a wild ride for about two hours and twenty minutes, with plenty of predictable moments, obvious symbols, and awkward conversations. It’s kind of like the start of a trilogy, aiming to set things up for more action-packed sequels.

One big issue is the pacing. It’s not really smooth. If you checked out those old Planet of the Apes movies by Matt Reeves, you might remember how slow it got whenever the apes spoke. They’d pause all over the place, clip words out—totally clunky. It made sense back then ’cause there were always humans chatting away normally to keep things lively. But here? Not so much. Most conversations happen between apes, and while they’ve evolved some, they’re still tripping over their own words.

There’s also this side story with eagles that’s almost too obvious in its meaning—kind of screams “this is American spirit” or something like that? It’s one of those plot lines that seems random at first but turns out super important by the end. Just think about it as they say in storytelling: if a gun shows up in Act One…

And then there’s this orangutan named Raka. He’s probably the best talker among them but ends up part of that controversial “bury your gay” trope where characters who come out as queer don’t usually get happy endings (although details on his story are left hanging).
So, there’s this movie where a girl called Nova, played by Freya Allen (you might know her as Ciri from The Witcher), is on the run from some monkeys. Nova is mysterious and torn between loyalty and some intense decisions that catch Noa off guard. Noa’s this farm boy—kind of reminds you of Luke Skywalker—who ends up challenging a big, cunning empire. He’s got that classic hero’s journey but without much surprise in this first installment.

Director Wes Ball delivers some cool action scenes, with cities overgrown with plants giving it an eerie vibe. But sometimes things just don’t quite add up logically; there are some adventurous shortcuts and maybe a bit too much drama. For instance, the rising water at the film’s end didn’t seem to make sense—it felt forced compared to what you’d expect given only about ten meters or so drop. It’s almost like Ball wanted to outdo Avatar’s finale but kind of missed the mark against James Cameron’s work.

Even with its flaws, it’ll be interesting to see how this long-running saga will reinvent itself in upcoming movies once it picks up steam again.
“Ordo” is about a guy named Ordo who gets hit with some crazy news that flips his world upside down. See, he learns that his ex-wife had a daughter, and somehow, he’s the dad! But wait—there’s more! This daughter lost her mom in a car accident and now wants to know all about him. Ordo’s life kind of goes on tilt as he navigates this totally unexpected turn of events. It’s a wild ride watching him try to step into this new role while dealing with all the emotions and surprises that pop up along the way.