An awful new instalment of an old franchise.

The script writer had the month off, as there were so few words spoken, the CGI creators went into overdrive with convincing apes and lush sets

The story was dreadful, a hybrid Western Revenge story with dollops of cod philosophy thrown in. It follows a new group of characters featuring Noa an ape who is learning about the human world and what Caesar was. After his village was attacked by a tyrannical Ape named Proximus. Noa and a human Mae  ( Freya Allen  )  have to work together to help stop him. There are factions between humans and apes and these factions have  confrontations, but it all seems contrived  even though some time has   been spent on the ape’s  culture , traditions, habits and costumes.

But the narrative is desperately slow, the action sequences contrived and pasted together to attempt to create some pace, but even that fails, a generic jeopardy/rescue scene on a bridge is laughable with the cliched  outstretched hand ( think Cliffhanger) risible. Director  Wes Ball echoes the established ape society precepts of fairness, loyalty and communal solidarity slavishly.

A great idea has run out of ideas – avoid.