I went into the premiere screening of

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes completely blind. Save for literally a couple of clips online and a few press releases, I knew nothing about the movie. And that includes the trilogy that preceded it. 

Given that, I didn’t feel lost watching the latest installment of the franchise and enjoyed my time in the IMAX theater.

Many generations later 

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set many years after the passing of Caesar. He is the main protagonist of the original Planet of the Apes films as well as the reboot trilogy in the 2010s: Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War of the Planet of the Apes.

‘Kingdom’ sets up a new beginning for the franchise, this time, with Noa as the protagonist. Noa is part of an ape clan that nurtures Eagles, hence the name Eagle Clan. In the film, he goes on a journey that puts him in a path that’s in direct collision against Proximus Caesar – the new ape in charge of a much larger, more brutal clan. 

Their paths cross due to Mae – a human on the run from the forces commanded by Proximus Caesar. 

Engaging hero’s journey 

Noa (played by Owen Teague) in 20th Century Studios’ KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

A big chunk of the film takes its time to acquaint us with Noa. A calculated move considering he likely will be who we will follow for the succeeding films. Unlike Caesar, Noa is far removed from the time when humans were the dominant species. Noa’s way of life with his clan is relatively simple, especially compared to the world we live in today. 

(Center): Freya Allan as Nova in 20th Century Studios’ KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

But that is immediately shaken as his encounter with Mae early in the film inevitably leads to him being on the opposing side of  the masked apes wielding taser-like spears working under Proximus Caesar.

Raka (played by Peter Macon) in 20th Century Studios’ KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Along his journey, he meets Raka. An elderly ape looking to preserve knowledge from the time of Caesar’s rule and even before that. 

We get more than enough time with Noa, learning his sensibilities, skills, abilities, and his motivations. The film spends nearly half its run time just making sure we’re acquainted with him and it does so in a manner that’s engaging and entertaining. 

All that time spent is paid off in a couple of sequences that truly shows Noa’s growth. Won’t say more, but I’m sure that when you see it, you’ll know. 

Intense, edge of your seat sequences 

Proximus Caesar (played by Kevin Durand) in 20th Century Studios’ KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

The film has plenty of high octane moments that raise the tension as you’re watching. But even in the quieter moments there’s still some kind and level of tension that will, as the cliché goes, keep you on the edge of your seat. 

The action heavy sequences are perfectly balanced between moments of tension of characters just quietly waiting for what another character will do before they make a move. 

The one truly relaxed sequence comes after Noa first meets Raka. But after that, we’re introduced to successive moments of varying tension levels that hit a fever pitch at the film’s climax. 

Curious narrative choices

(L-R): Noa (played by Owen Teague) and Raka (played by Peter Macon) in 20th Century Studios’ KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Despite being set many generations after the passing of Caesar, the apes haven’t seem to have advanced much. This was the first thing that came to mind at the start of the film. 

This comes to question even more as we learn more about Mae throughout the film. Her outfit along with the actions she takes early in the film clue us in on the true state of the world.

As we’re introduced to Promixus Caesar, we learn that this choice was deliberate. Proximus seeks the knowledge and technology from the time the humans were still in charge. But instead of discovering it for himself, his preferred method is brute forcing his way into an empty human stronghold. 

Personally, I still believe the apes should have advanced more. Although, only a small portion of the earth was showcased in this film. There’s plenty of wiggle room for future films to explore what the apes have been up to in the rest of the world.

Should you watch Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes?

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes gets intense in the right moments and takes you on an engaging hero’s journey. The theme of interspecies co-existence, which I believe is a core tenet of the franchise, remains strong and comes into the forefront near the film’s climax.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable flick. But should you watch it? To answer that, I’m introducing my personal ‘Watch scale’: 

• Watch ASAP
• Watch at your convenience
• Wait for crowd/ hype to trickle down
• Wait on streaming
• Skip 

For me, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes sits squarely between the Watch at your convenience and Wait for crowd/hype to trickle down. It’s well-made and enjoyable, but unless you’re deep into the Planet of the Apes franchise, there’s no merit in fighting through crowds to go see it. 

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is now showing on Cinemas.

Formula 1’s success these days owes a lot to Netflix’s Drive to Survive. In concise ten-episode chunks per season, the documentary series takes viewers through an entire season of the sport. Next year, Netflix is getting a second Formula 1 series, focusing on F1 Academy, to add to its motorsports slate.

The F1 Academy is a much smaller series attached to Formula 1. Before a few F1 races sprinkled through the season, 15 female drivers take to the circuit. Though the series only started in late 2022, its main goal is to grant developmental opportunities for female drivers in motorsports.

The newly minted series gained a lot of traction because of McLaren’s Bianca Bustamante, the first Filipino driver to win an F1 Academy race. She also has two other podium finishes in the series to her name.

Now, almost a year since winning her race, Bustamante will get her Netflix debut through a new docuseries simply titled F1 Academy. As the name indicates, the upcoming series will focus on the female-only series, much like how Drive to Survive focuses on the main series.

In production now, the series is set to premiere sometime in 2025. It will be produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.

SEE ALSO: F1’s Daniel Ricciardo spotted with an unreleased Beats Pill

Bumble is ushering a new era of dating. The dating app has just rolled out a new brand design. This includes a new logo and user interface with bolder fonts and refreshed colors and illustrations. Along these are many significant updates to the app’s features, giving users better ways to connect with others.

For instance, Bumble has added hundreds of new prompts and have refreshed the prompts UI to help members show off their personalities easier. Shared interests have also been moved to the top of the profiles for users to better spot commonalities. This gives users a snippet of profiles for them to know right away what they have in common. Furthermore, the app has also increased the number of required profile photos to four to boost the likelihood of matches.

Among the new features on Bumble is Opening Moves. This allows women to set a post-match question for their connections to respond to within 24 hours. This facilitates a more meaningful connection and introduces another way to connect outside of Bumble’s Make The First Move. Of course, they may directly message their match even if they haven’t responded to the post-match question.

Meanwhile, Bumble has also expanded its Dating Intentions right from the setup. This is so users can answer the question “What are you hoping to find?” with more accurate choices. Among these are Long Term Relationship, Life Partner, Fun, Casual Dates, Intimacy without commitment, Ethical non-monogamy, and Marriage.

This change stemmed from a Bumble survey that saw 68% of women struggle with people not being upfront about their dating intentions. When browsing, the expanded dating intentions badges will show right below the person’s profile’s “About me” in a section called “I’m looking for.”

Moreover, Bumble has renamed Best Bees to For You. Bumble is employing a new machine learning model to give users their daily set of four curated and relevant profiles based on preferences and past matches.

The changes are part of Bumble’s mantra to empower women to make the first move, flip gender roles, and take control of their dating app experience and dating life in general.