Reviews for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes are out now, and while they are great, the Rotten Tomatoes score still can’t compete with the last two Planet of the Apes movies. The Planet of the Apes franchise is famously a critical powerhouse, with nearly every movie in the modern series being adored by critics and fans alike. Because of this, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes had an incredibly high bar to live up to, especially in the wake of the previous two movies. However, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes didn’t quite reach this bar.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is finally here, with the highly anticipated continuation of the modern Planet of the Apes series now released. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set generations after War for the Planet of the Apes, with it following the story of an ape named Noa as he attempts to take down an ape clan obsessed with appropriating Caesar’s legacy. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is heavily reliant on the past Planet of the Apes movies, and while it is close, it isn’t quite as good as its predecessors.

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Rotten Tomatoes Score Explained

It Has 81%

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes‘ standing on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer has finally been revealed, with it revealing an interesting detail about the film’s critical reception. As of the writing of this article, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is sitting at an 81% on the Tomatometer (via Rotten Tomatoes). While this is a fantastic score, it doesn’t quite live up to the Tomatometer scores of some of the other Planet of the Apes films. In fact, the movie is just 1% lower than Rise of the Planet of the Apes, signaling that it didn’t quite reach the trilogy’s success.

This 81% score on the Tomatometer is a sign that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is really good, but not great. The film’s technical effects, story, scale, and tone have been praised across the board, although the runtime and pacing of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes have been real sticking points for critics so far. Here are some of the most commonly cited pros and cons from some of the most prominent Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes reviews:

Graeme Guttmann, ScreenRant

Its mysterious adventure assuages any feelings of bloat in its two-and-a-half-hour runtime. Explosive action sequences are well-crafted and the special effects are on par with the groundbreaking motion-capture of the original reboot trilogy. Finally, a captivating epilogue provides some answers while asking questions that will hopefully be answered in the future.

Howard Waldsetin, CBR

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes isn’t a terrible film by any means, though it’s definitely the worst of the latest four films; it’s just that it is so transparently another combination of the series’ hallmarks: the appearance of something different that’s really just the same pieces put in a different order.

Ross Bonaime, Collider

Visually, Ball finds an intriguing middle ground between two different pasts to create his own vision, and these performances remain impressive behind the layers of computer animation, but the script leaves these characters and stories a step behind where they should be. Still, Kingdom is promising in how it sets up its own story, albeit with a start that’s a bit shaggier than recent installments.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes & War For The Planet Of The Apes Were Both Great Movies

Easily The Franchise’s Best Films

Although Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes doesn’t quite live up to the last two Planet of the Apes movies, nobody really expected it to. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes are easily the two best movies in the franchise as well as two of the best blockbusters of all time, with Matt Reeves’ vision for the series being perfect for the two films.

The latter two movies in the modern Planet of the Apes trilogy manage to perfectly balance the tone, characters, and social commentary of the franchise, perfecting Planet of the Apes. Because of this, it is incredibly hard for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes to compete with these two films. This is made even more difficult by the fact that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes had to set up Noa, Mae, and other new characters, whereas Dawn and War were able to build off the back of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

How Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Rotten Tomatoes Score Compares To Every Other POTA Movie

It Has The Fifth-Highest Score

Despite not quite living up to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes‘ Rotten Tomatoes score is still great when looking at the overall franchise. When ranking every Planet of the Apes movie, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is still near the top, with it falling below all of the modern Planet of the Apes movies but above most of the classic ones.

In fact, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is actually the fifth-highest-rated Planet of the Apes movie based on the Tomatometer, with many of the old films having far worse scores. Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, and the 2001 Planet of the Apes remake all have worse scores, showing that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes‘ 81% score is still a massive success for the franchise.