“What a wonderful day!” the villain (Proximus Caesar) of Kingdom of the Planet of Apes proclaims as he enters the film just over an hour in. And it truly is a wonderful day to see the Planet of the Apes franchise return, buoyed by a confidence gained thanks to the near universally acclaimed run of Rise, Dawn and War. And while Kingdom lacks same of the thematic heft of those instalments, it is a work of thrilling scope and scale that sets up future stories without undercutting the narrative.

Set generations after the previous film, we pick up an Earth where apes have continued to flourish and spread into tribes, and humanity has receded, referred to here as echoes. Our protagonist is a young ape by the name of Noa, whose tribe life is ripped apart as the previous mentioned antagonist’s own forces attack and capture Noa’s friends and family. His travel to rescue them brings him into contact with a new ally, a human by the name of Mae.

Director Wes Ball proves a safe pair of hands for this long-running sci-fi property, confidently weaving action beats with a slower pace, giving room for world building. Kingdom has a beautiful visual sweep to it, thanks to Gyula Pados’ astute camerawork. Moving the franchise out of the San Francisco forests breaths life into the film and differentiates it from its current peers. Add this to staggering good effects work and there is a quality that has bled from the Andy Serkis-years to now. While some of the thematic depths of the previous trilogy (both a blessing, in the form of the brilliant Dawn, and a curse, when it comes to a rather stodgy War) is gone, the DNA of what was achieved by that run is felt here. We are some distance from both the 70s blend of goofiness and nihilism, and whatever Tim Burton was going for with his ill-judged 2001 remake.

The film benefits greatly from a pair of characters, whose arrival lift the respective segments they are a part of. Peter Macon’s Raka is a warm, inviting presence, bringing levity and also some of the film’s deeper moments. Meanwhile Kevin Durand’s Proximus is a terrific monster, all bravado and swagger. Less successful is Freya Allan’s Mae, less an issue of Allan’s committed turn and more a narrative that is unsure quite what to do with them. Where as Owen Teague is able to be stoic as Noa, Allan must shift depending on narrative developments that lack some of the cohesion needed to land.

Kingdom builds to a strong final act, as Durand’s Proximus comes to the foreground and the narrative lays down the franchise’s direction of travel going forward. This critic left the cinema pleased, thrilled that it all came together and curious of what the future holds for our band of damn, dirty apes. Whilst we never quite hit the heights of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (or the wonderful Simpsons parody), this is one sci-fi franchise that brims with potential.