MovieChat Forums > Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) Discussion > What was with the eagles in this movie?

What was with the eagles in this movie?

posted 7 months ago by ReelReviews14 (1220)
5 replies | jump to latest

I think decades from now, when people are remembering all the Planet of the Apes movies both before and after this one, Kingdom will be remembered as "the one with the eagles".

It was kinda weird, the film obviously drew on (and hinted at) numerous past films in the franchise, but the whole "eagles" this was unique to this one. It seemed like a strange contribution to the POTA universe, like someone must really like the lore in LOTR where Gandalf "calls the eagles" all the time to rescue them/solve a problem, and decided that would be a nice feature in the POTA universe.

[–] DarthAckbar (2080) 7 months ago

my best guess is the writer or director thought of the ending first,

and then included them to make that happen

[–] FootOfDavros (8245) 7 months ago

May have been.

But I'm glad he did. I thought it was pretty funny when you realised what was going to happen as, retrospectively, it was kind of clearly signposted that it was...

[–] DarthAckbar (2080) 7 months ago

yep, lol

[–] cwitheringaway (2) 7 months ago

What I gathered from their inclusion, is that they were the right of passage and coming of age of each ape. That is why they were included in the story to begin with. I saw them as a parallel to Noa's growing leadership and courage throughout the film. That is why they wouldn't come to him at first because he didn't believe in himself at first and he wasn't a leader. I also in my head connected it to nature vs. technology, and relationship vs. slavery. Noa's clan raised the eagles as equals to them and cared for them whereas Proximus's apes created weapons to harm others. Kinda like the parallel to Proximus wanting to evolve with technology and weaponry but Noa is looking to evolve to explore nature and space. I know there is a lot to take in there and it isn't as concise as I would like but that is what I understood.

[–] xergan (1067) 7 months ago

Imo the movie did not do well in telling this story, also when I agree this was likely the intention. The main eagle first pick on him, but then change after Noahs dad died. Imo there was no reason for him to be so cool, they should have e.g. showed how Noah rescue the main eagle from the gorilla or something, this would have explained why he gained first respect. Instead the eagle even picks on him when he free him.
Another story would have been the one of the "big brother", where the little brother gains the respect because of what he does. But the eagle basically never shows up during Noahs adventure.

So for me the eagles became a total deus ex machina in the end. They could have e.g. just show how the eagles follow Noah, and the main eagle also sometimes kind of admit that Noah was growing into leadership.