Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (PG-13)
Stand-alone sequel has violence and sympathetic characters.
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is a stand-alone sequel to “War for the Planet of the Apes” and set many generations after the death of the ape leader Caesar, whose teachings have begun to unravel. Violence is the biggest issue: Expect deaths (and mourning, with funeral pyres), bloody wounds, spitting blood, characters being stabbed with knives and zapped with electric prods, falls from high places, a cabinet full of guns, a gunshot, pounding, throwing, bashing, trampling, a lethal chokehold, an explosion and more. Ape characters also struggle with rising floodwaters, and human characters are captured in nets and via ropes around the ankles. “S---” is used three times, but there’s not much other language, and there’s no notable sexual content, product placement or substance use. The movie looks great and has sympathetic characters (albeit not a very diverse cast), though it seems less ambitious than its predecessors. (145 minutes)
