Before you groan (like I almost did) about the tenth film in the Planet of the Apes franchise, let me tell you that it’s good. Despite everything you might think you know about these films (and you’re mostly right) about how you’re slightly more evolved than the impressionable youngster when you watched Matt Reeves’ films, starring Andy Serkis as Caesar (the leader of the Ape world) you’re likely to still be moved by the latest film too. While that’s partly because of how much it continues to focus on the predictable fallibility of most primates, Wes Ball’s film also remains depressingly topical, five decades after the franchise’s first film was released.Supposed to be an indictment of the hubris of humans, after a mysterious virus outbreak results in Apes, Orangutans, Gorillas becoming the smarter species, while humans lose their ability to speak – the franchise’s focus on paranoia as its principal emotion still reigns supreme. In a ravaged dystopia, when the planet is a literal jungle and resources are finite, who do you trust? Other apes? Humans? Can humans and apes co-exist, or is it programmed in our nature to fight until one of us has enslaved the rest?Kingdom picks up where War for The Planet of the Apes (2017) ended. After Caesar dies protecting his clan, he goes from being the leader to a mythical figure. And mythical figures can be invoked by all kinds of power-hungry creatures and their teachings can be co-opted for nefarious agendas. It’s not just something limited to human nature, the film seems to argue. Wes Ball’s film doesn’t seem eager or impatient, holding back with assurance, having the languorous pace of a nature documentary in the first 20 mins. Taking place a few generations after Caesar’s funeral in the first scene, we’re introduced to Noa (Owen Teague), Soona (Lydia Peckham) and Anaya (Travis Jeffery), three young apes in a clan that rears eagles.When Noa’s clan is attacked by a more violent clan belonging to a self-anointed leader called Proximus (Kevin Durand) – killing his father, and taking his mother and many other members of his clan as prisoners – he decides to make the journey to meet Proximus, and save his people. Along the way, he meets an Orangutan called Raka (Peter Macon) – who tells him about the ‘real’ Caesar – and a woman named Mae (Freya Allan), who is evidently hiding more things than we know. It’s a chilling performance by Allan, conveying her character’s self-preservation, predatorial and manipulative instincts, all in the space of a few seconds – without letting her become a paper-thin ‘greedy’ human.Wes Ball is a good director to be trusted with this franchise, given that he’s been at the helm of the similarly-mounted Maze Runner films. While the Maze Runner films failed to sustain intrigue, maybe Josh Friedman’s screenplay in Kingdom is exactly what Ball needed to show off his capabilities. The film is a stripped-down, bare bones origin story for how Noa will end up as the leader of his clan – but what’s fascinating is how Ball and Friedman don’t make it obvious.Noa and Mae are captured by Proximus’ henchmen and brought as captives to a sea-side settlement, where the captives are tasked with opening into what looks like a human bunker. Proximus can’t wait to get his hands on the technology that the humans had produced when they were at their most advanced. After which, he claims as Caesar would have liked, he can get all the apes and humans in the world to bow before him.Kevin Durand is frightening and unpredictable as Proximus – who isn’t a straight-forward narcissist. He understands what triggers who, the value of his captives, and someone laser focused in his purpose to become the second coming of Caesar (which is why he pompously calls himself Proximus Caesar too). Andy Serkis set a high bar for motion-capture acting in the earlier films; it’s visible that actors like Durand and Teague have taken a leaf out of Serkis’ book.Kingdom might not have the finesse of Reeves’ films, but it’s an exhibition for how one can expand the scope of a franchise without compromising its integrity. Sometimes, all you have to do is get the apes in your film to see through a telescope to see the vastness of the universe, and see the wonder in their eyes. The scene could be a stand-in for how it’s possible to find well-rounded conflicts even in arguably the most saturated cinematic worlds. Ball’s film ends on a rousing note, leaving me excited about what one might expect from the sequels of the reboot of a prequel trilogy. Kingdom rises above all this blockbuster jargon, and makes space for itself.