Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Continues A Classic Franchise Tradition
The following article contains spoilers for "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes."
The "Planet of the Apes" reboot trilogy made a lot of big changes to the (already wonky) timeline of the original films, like making Caesar's revolt more grounded rather than it happening in a futuristic society where apes somehow replaced dogs as the biggest domesticated companion to humans.
But for the most part, they have been faithful, showing us how our world could end up becoming a dystopia where apes treat humans as cattle or slaves. They incorporated some of the biggest iconographies from the originals, from iconic phrases like "get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape" to the Alpha and Omega cult and characters named after those in the original (Cornelius, Blue Eyes, Nova). The new film, "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes," the first in what is hopefully a new trilogy continues that tradition. It presents a new chapter in the saga, jumping ahead in time and getting us closer to the timeline of the original movies by showing us a world where apes are the dominant species of the planet with their own civilizations, and humans are now mostly feral and unable to speak.
And yet, some things never change. Humans are still mostly deplorable, apes together are still strong, and most importantly, gorillas are the worst.
The role of gorillas in the Planet of the Apes movies
This idea stems from the 1968 "Planet of the Apes," which divided its ape society into a caste system, where each ape species serves a different role. Orangutans serve as politicians, lawyers, and priests, chimpanzees are intellectuals, doctors, and also scientists. As for gorillas, they are brutes, muscles, and they work as hunters, soldiers, and cops.
It made sense, as it was not only part of the original novel, but it helped distinguish between the different masks used for the incredible yet incredibly harsh makeup and costuming in the films. But the idea stuck, the gorillas (led by General Ursus) are the harsher of the three groups, the more violent ones, and the ones who are most prone to be absolut jerks.
Sure, there was Buck the gorilla in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and he was the best bro an ape could ask for by helping Caesar rise to power and even sacrificing himself to save him. But by the time of "War for the Planet of the Apes," we got both Winter the cowardly and traitorous ape who sold out his kind to the Colonel, and Red the gorilla who works as a "donkey" for the Colonel and a sadistic enforcer in the ape work camp. These are bullish brutes, portrayed as being quick to betray and to even enjoy the violence. This continues in "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" where we meet Proximus Caesar's right-hand gorilla, the guy who leads the hunt for humans, who conquers other ape clans and captures them to use as a labor force.
Things may change as we get closer to the original "Planet of the Apes" future, but just as war never changes, neither do gorillas.