Over the course of the history of film, studios and filmmakers alike have been chasing the coveted three-movie winning streak because…well, for some reason, human beings revere things in groups of three. When it comes to storytelling, audiences gravitate towards a three-act structure spread out over the course of three distinct chapters. Many film trilogies, such as the original Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings movies, follow the same central characters over the course of a grand journey. Others, like Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy or Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones trilogy, de-emphasize an overarching story by telling standalone adventures with compelling heroes like the titular Indy or the “Man with No Name.” Some filmmakers have even created “thematic trilogies” with three films that are tied together by ideas rather than plot and continuity (director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Death” trilogy and writer Taylor Sheridan’s “Frontier” trilogy are good modern examples of this phenomenon).
Due to the centrality of trilogies to the historical narrative of cinema, lovers of movies inevitably debate the question: “What is the best movie trilogy of all time?” I don’t know if I have a good answer for that, but I do know what some of the best trilogies are (some of which you may not expect). So, today I begin a brand-new blog series celebrating what are (in my humble opinion) the best movie trilogies ever made. I will dissect how they tell a consistently compelling story across distinct and entertaining flicks. And, with the release of Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes this weekend, what’s a better time than now to look back on what’s arguably the most underrated trilogy in modern cinematic history? Without question, the first three Planet of the Apes reboot films make up one of the best trilogies in cinematic history. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) Five years after the commercially successful but critically panned reboot of the original Planet of the Apes directed by Tim Burton, 20th Century Fox seemed disinterested in doing anything with the franchise as it stood. However, that changed when they received a script from husband-and-wife screenwriting duo Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa (Jurassic World, Mulan, Avatar: The Way of Water) with a fresh take that would essentially reboot the long-running series of Apes movies. Five years after that, the first installment of this incredible trilogy premiered in August to positive reviews from critics that ended up grossing just under half-a-million dollars. The question now, though, is does this movie hold up more than a decade after it came out? YES. IT DOES. Thanks to Silver and Jaffa’s solid screenplay receiving some assured direction from British filmmaker Rupert Wyatt, Rise of the Planet of the Apes exceeds any expectations for what a seventh film of this franchise could be. It does not try to repeat the specificity of the 1968 original classic, but respectfully pays homage to its deft handling of social commentary and groundbreaking make-up effects by tackling 21st-century issues and utilizing 21st-century technology. At a lean 105 minutes, the movie doesn’t waste a second of your time by making each scene relevant to either the hero’s journey at its core or the world-building going on in the background. Despite not getting a lot of attention in retrospect, Wyatt deserves kudos for managing to kickstart a critically and commercially successful sci-fi series made up of wildly entertaining blockbusters with something on their mind worth saying. Simply put, Rise is a damn-near modern classic that has seemingly been overshadowed by its successors. So, let’s spend some time dissecting why this movie is exceptional both on its own & as the start of something new. When you ask most people what they know about these modern Apes reboots, they’ll likely bring up one person’s name before anyone or anything else: Andy Serkis. This is more than deserved since Serkis’ performance as the trilogy’s protagonist, Caesar, is the consistent standout of the entire trilogy & still one of the best CG-infused characters in cinematic history from both a technical & emotional standpoint. By drawing on his extensive experience working with motion-capture technology for Peter Jackson in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, Serkis brings a walking, talking chimpanzee to life & makes his physical and emotional journey completely believable & grounded in the reality of our world. While other actors in the series shine in their roles as the apes, it is Serkis and his collaboration with the creatives at Weta Digital that serves as the model for it all. The grace and subtlety that he injects into every gaze, smile, frown, and scream allows the audience to fully buy Caesar as a fleshed-out character. This is perhaps best embodied when Caesar shouts his first word: “NO!!” In other words, without this central performance being as good as it was this trilogy would likely not be as good as it is. Aside from just Caesar, though, I really enjoyed some of the other apes in Rise both in terms of their relationship to the protagonist & what they did. Given the structure of the screenplay, many of their best moments come in the third act. The notable examples prior to that are Caesar bonding with the orangutan Maurice (Karin Konoval), Caesar freeing the gorilla Buck (Richard Ridings) at the animal shelter, former alpha Rocket (Terry Notary) submitting to Caesar as the new alpha, and Caesar breaking Koba (Christopher Gordon)) out of Gen-Sys. All of these brief scenes & moments help flesh out the cast of apes surrounding Caesar and create a solid foundation for the climactic battle sequence of this movie (not to mention the future movies). But what about the human characters? Unsurprisingly, of all three movies, Rise is the one that relies the most on a human cast driving the plot forward given they are the ones in charge of the planet. To that point, the standouts without question are James Franco as the Gen-Sys chemist Dr. Will Rodman and John Lithgow as his Alzheimer’s-stricken father Charles. Simply put, their relationship (both with Caesar and with each other) forms the emotional & thematic core of the movie. It is through Franco’s outlook on the consequences of his work that Wyatt and the screenwriters explore important themes like anthropocentrism and the arrogant corporatization of medical testing. Both in how Will unwittingly treats Caesar like a lab experiment/pet more than a son and how that sharply contrasts with Charles’ genuine love for the chimp, Rise offers up perhaps the most developed & hard-hitting human-on-human relationship despite relying on one-dimensional human supporting characters like Will’s veterinarian girlfriend Caroline (Freida Pinto) and Dodge (Tom Felton), the sadistic “caretaker” at the animal shelter. Perhaps what works best about Will as the human protagonist is how his story is kind of a tragedy unlike Caesar’s being a hopeful ascent to freedom from oppression. Whereas Caesar frees his fellow apes & leads them to a new home away from human society, Will’s short-sighted and selfish devotion to the ALZ-112 drug unintentionally leads to humanity’s downfall. One saves his species while the other destroys his, and that kind of mirroring works wonders on a viewer like me. 😊 While the characters keep the film’s narrative grounded & compelling, Rise fully embraces its blockbuster aesthetic by the third act with an incredibly fun and engaging chase/battle sequence. Starting at the animal shelter with a prison break & culminating with a tense shootout atop the Golden Gate Bridge, this collection of scenes can feel a bit silly in isolation. However, thanks to the restrained yet brisk pacing of the first two acts & Wyatt’s mature take on everything up to that point, the film earns this kind of ending. In addition, it gives us some really great characters moments from Buck’s sacrifice play for Caesar, Koba’s ruthless behavior towards the humans teasing things to come, and the heartfelt goodbye between Caesar and Will in the woods. If the film was just everything I’ve mentioned by now, it would be a solid standalone movie with a great hero’s journey that explores some relevant & important ideas. But Silver and Jaffa exceeded even that reasonable expectation by smoothly and effortlessly integrating a subplot involving the genesis of the “simian flu.” From Will’s colleague and chimp handler Robert (Tyler Labine) becoming patient zero to Will’s neighbor and pilot Douglas (David Hewlett) ultimately spreading the virus worldwide, this thread leaves the door wide open for an awesome film trilogy to bloom. Fortunately, it did, indeed. Could the film have done without some of the cartoonish acting or slowed down a little bit? Sure, but these minor critiques do little to keep Rise of the Planet of the Apes from being one of the most underrated films of the last fifteen years. It should not have been as good as it is, but fortunately it’s very good and is only diminished by the fact that its sequel is even better. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) After a solid start with Rise, 20th Century Fox wasted little time closing deals to begin development on a sequel. With Rubert Wyatt leaving the director’s chair out of concern for the turnaround being too quick, the studio hired Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In, The Batman) to help the sequel (although some of Wyatt’s ideas, like the time jump & Caesar’s rivalry with Koba, were used). While none of the human cast from Rise returned (save for an uncredited cameo from James Franco), Serkis, Notary, and Konoval all reprise their roles alongside several new human and ape characters. Additionally, Weta Digital returned to make the visual effects for the film. Premiering in July of 2014, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes received overwhelming positive reviews and grossed over 700 million dollars (making it the eighth-highest grossing film of that year). Unlike Rise, which I watched at home, I vividly remembering seeing Dawn in the theater with my cousin and friends. As a rising senior in high school, I was utterly blown away by how good the movie was. Of course, I was too young to fully grasp the thematic depths & richness of character that critics at the time were highlighting. Nonetheless, my peers and I found it very cool and fun which helped the movie stick out in my memory all these years later. Clearly, I’m not the only one. Whenever I hear people discuss this trilogy, rarely do I hear Dawn referred to anything but the best of them. Upon rewatching all three movies over the past month, I wholeheartedly agree. With a solid foundation from Rupert Wyatt in Rise, Matt Reeves fully embraces the limitless possibilities left over by that film’s ending in the best way possible. It begins with one of the best uses of “gloom-and-doom” opening credits I’ve ever seen by tracking the spread of the “simian flu” across the globe and, consequently, the near-extinction of the human race. From there, it just gets better. If you ask me, the sheer greatness of Dawn can largely be credited to the full-throated commitment of the creatives behind the movie (including Reeves driving the ship) to a character-driven, Shakespearean tragedy about apes thriving while humanity teeters on the brink of collapse. This unique version of a post-apocalyptic Earth, crafted by returning screenwriters Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa working alongside newcomer Mark Bomback (Unstoppable, The Wolverine), deftly explores the effects on trauma on psychological well-being and interpersonal relationships through the friend-turned-enemy dynamic between Caesar and Koba (now played by Toby Kebbell) and the apes who commit themselves to one or the other. Like all of these movies, they work only as well as the actors’ ability to invest us in their characters and conflicts. Leading the way once again is Serkis’ awards-worthy turn as Caesar. At this point in the series, he seems to command a mastery of the art of motion-capture performance. In tandem with the VFX artists’ incredible attention to detail, Serkis fully maximizes every twitch of the eye, twist of the face, and shift of his body to serve the emotional necessities of each moment that he’s onscreen. The degree of confidence and maturity that he brings to the character reinforces how much Caesar shines as a leader of the apes while also ensuring his lower moments make a formidable impact to drive the narrative home. What I appreciate most, however, is how “full-circle” this arc is for Caesar. Whereas he ends Rise in triumph leading his people to freedom & a better future, Dawn is the inception of Caesar’s downfall as a simultaneously heroic and tragic figure upon realizing the weight of his failures as a war with humanity looms on the horizon. Without a doubt, Caesar’s arc in Dawn is a fantastic middle chapter that Serkis fully services from start to finish. Perhaps the only ape that potentially steals the show from Serkis as Caesar is Toby Kebbell’s turn as Koba. Taking over from Christopher Gordon who played a relatively minor role in Rise, Kebbell cements Koba in Dawn as a compelling & memorably cinematic antagonist by injecting more than enough relatability in his bloodthirst and treachery to ensure the character is as complicated a villain as possible given that he’s a talking ape. A more understated ape character, in my humble opinion, is Nick Thurston’s portrayal of Caesar’s eldest son Blue Eyes. While not the most intriguing or cool character to watch, Thurston solidly and consistently draws empathy from the viewer in his innocent and youthful experiencing of Caesar’s “death” and the horrors of war as begun by the vengeful Koba. By the end of the second act, Blue Eyes steps into his own as an up-and-coming leader to help him stick around as a memorable secondary character (while making his fate in the next film all the more bittersweet). Even more so than Rise, the humans in Dawn are certainly not the focus and that’s a good thing (other franchises dense with CG characters, like Transformers and Legendary’s “MonsterVerse,” can learn a thing or two from this trilogy). As such, the screenwriters and director fittingly make sure that their presence & role in the plot serve the apes’ stories first and foremost. Consequently, actors like Jason Clarke and Keri Russell do their job adequately but fail to leave a lasting impression given what little writing they have to truly chew on. The one human character that stands out from all the others, to no surprise, is Gary Oldman. Without question one of the best actors alive today, Oldman brings his typical gravitas and devotion to the sympathetic villain Dreyfus in the few quiet moments he gets to show the audience how much he lost due to the “simian flu.” At the same time, he brings the sort of “reluctant heroism” characteristic of his portrayal of Jim Gordon from The Dark Knight trilogy to this film which helps differentiate Dreyfus from the more ruthless Koba. On a technical level, Weta Digital is at the top of their game & will continue to top themselves with the final act of the trilogy. However, I want to take a moment to spotlight the incredible behind-the-camera work outside of the VFX department. First, the breathtaking cinematography pulled off by New Zealand filmmaker who collaborated with Alfonso Cuarón on the third Harry Potter flick. Similar to that exceptional work in tandem with a genius director, Seresin’s camerawork for Reeves in Dawn deserved to at least be nominated for (if not win) an Oscar by sticking so loyally to the gritty aesthetic that Reeves is going for. Not to mention how he pulls off making fire look gorgeously enticing and harrowing within a single frame. Another frequent Reeves collaborator is Oscar winner and two-time nominee Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille, The Batman, Society of the Snow). Simply put, Giacchino brings his signature awesomeness to both of Reeves’ Apes flicks by injecting stark contrast between the quiet, character-focused scenes and the bombastic action set pieces. Like any great composer, the music is vivid and apparent without ever overwhelming the visuals, dialogue, or other sounds that occur. As a cherry on top, Giacchino pays subtle homage to the 1968 original Planet of the Apes film without losing sight of the specific atmosphere of Dawn. When all of these elements come together—the directing, acting, writing, cinematography, music, visual effects, sound design, and so on--Dawn culminates in a well-paced sci-fi action drama. The first hour expertly establishes the ten-year span the apes have spent creating a home and life for themselves before re-introducing mankind to the equation. This lights a spark that sets off the rest of the story filled with betrayal and tension that ultimately delivers in its last forty-five minutes and sets up a war between apes and humans. After rewatching Dawn, I’m glad that people haven’t forgotten about this movie nor lost appreciation for it. Given how difficult the middle part of a trilogy can be and how often it falls short of its predecessor, this movie just nails it. Should it have been called Rise instead of Dawn with the first one being Dawn? Probably. 😊 But that doesn’t matter in the end; Dawn is one of the best cinematic sequels and earns its place in modern film history. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) Unlike the change of directors from Rise to Dawn, Matt Reeves stuck around to close out Caesar’s story with War for the Planet of the Apes. This, in my humble opinion, was a good thing because the creative team remains largely the same. Furthermore, Reeves more than proved his ability to tell a character-driven and thematically rich drama with Dawn. As such, War serves as the (mostly) satisfying conclusion to this Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy by exploring the complexities of violence and revenge head-on without ever glorifying either. I know it can go unsaid at this point, but the visual effects and motion-capture technology on display in all three of these movies is mesmerizingly incredible. In the same way that they improved from Rise to Dawn, they got even better for War. The sheer intensity of emotion that was captured on all of the apes’ faces exemplifies this for its entire runtime. The fact that NONE of these three films won an Oscar is utterly baffling and unjust (that is, until you realize that the latter two flicks lost to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049). Nevertheless, the greatness of these movies is elevated & solidified by the work from Weta Digital that seamlessly and gracefully bring these sentient apes to life. Of course, the actors’ performances do wonders to make the visual effects completely believable. In the effort to not just keep repeating myself, I’ll keep this short: Andy Serkis delivers arguably his best performance ever as Caesar in this whole trilogy but in War particularly. Despite relying on more dialogue than in the first two movies, his masterful command of motion-capture performance to let his eyes, face, and body language convey so much with so little will undoubtedly stand the test of time when the history of CG-generated characters in cinema is written. Fortunately, Serkis is no longer the sole standout like he arguably was in Rise. Instead, several actors portraying apes do wonders with what they’re given. Two veteran performers deserve much praise: Karin Konoval and Terry Notary (Maurice and Rocket, respectively). Not only are their characters given more to do than in the previous movies, but both actors contend for the “unsung hero” of the mainstay cast of apes. As Maurice, Konoval consistently demonstrated a lovable amount of empathy & humanity into the orangutan whose face may look the least like a person compared to the chimps and bonobos that fill out much of the rest of the cast. Furthermore, her ability to subtly center the majority of the scenes allow for a viewer to legitimately make the case that the film could be told through Maurice’s eyes as the angel on Caesar’s shoulder. Notary, on the other hand, works exceptionally well to make Rocket the reliable right-hand soldier to Caesar. His grit, strength, and tenacity parallel Caesar when it matters in the violent combat sequences. A newcomer, however, may just steal the show from all of the apes except Caesar: Steve Zahn as the talking loner “Bad Ape.” Like Koba in the sense that he draws the audience to him the second that he first appears on screen, Zahn’s pitch-perfect line delivery and quirky physicality solidify “Bad Ape” as one of the most memorable ape characters in the entire trilogy. Especially in a film like War that’s very dark and somber for much of its nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime, his use as levity just enough to make an impact but never to the point of turning the audience against him. Much like Dawn, the noteworthy human characters in this movie are few and far between. For me, Woody Harrelson playing a post-apocalyptic and more sympathetic version of Apocalypse Now’s Colonel Kurtz is the only true standout. In crafting this sadistic military commander, Matt Reeves and his writing partner Mark Bomback avoid repeating the reluctant leader that Gary Oldman played in Dawn. Instead, Harrelson gets to portray a (mostly) surface-level villain in the best possibly way. As “The Colonel,” he fills the antagonistic role well enough both in terms of the plot revolved around the actual war itself & as a fitting foil to Caesar when it comes to the film’s commentary about the self-destructive nature of revenge. For that alone, Harrelson deserves some praise for acting his ass off against Serkis in his motion-captured prime. When it comes to the screenplay and story, I think that War is arguably the least entertaining of the three films but also may be the most thematically impactful. While I do think it’s my least favorite of the trilogy, I fully appreciate & commend Reeves and his team of artists committing to the “anti-war” bent in both the de-sanitized portrayal of violence. Not only does it provide a grounded examination of war in the context of an inherently silly sci-fi concept, but the backdrop of war effectively serves Caesar’s personal journey of struggling to overcome his desire for revenge. Furthermore, it fulfills the promise in Dawn of Caesar’s story ultimately being a tragedy defined by an ape freeing his people from torture and oppression, struggling to make the right choice which results in harm being done to apes thanks to Koba, and ultimately failing to give up his bloodlust and thus confirming that he’s not as different from his archrival as he told himself he was. Like I did after first seeing the movie, I still don’t love the particular circumstances of how Caesar’s life ends (why didn’t he deal with the arrowhead in his stomach in the seemingly days or even weeks since escaping the Colonel’s compound?). That being said, the ending itself feels necessary and satisfying from an overarching story perspective. Also, in terms of the characters, I was a bit disappointed in the underutilization of Blue Eyes (especially after his surprisingly good impression in Dawn) and Caesar’s mate Cornelia (Judy Greer), the latter of which felt barely present in both of these last two movies. While I completely understand the significance of their shocking deaths to propelling Caesar’s self-righteous revenge story, I just wish that both of these actors/characters were given a little more respect in this trilogy given how important they are to Caesar. Thus, War tops off this trilogy in near-perfect form given what was set up in Dawn despite not being as joyously entertaining as that movie or even Rise. All that being said, I hope I’ve convinced you that the first three Planet of the Apes reboot movies form one of the best movie trilogies ever made. But, if you don’t believe me, watch them (or rewatch if you haven’t seen them in a long time) and see for yourself. I promise you won’t be disappointed. 😊 Do you agree with me that these modern Planet of the Apes movies are incredibly underrated? What are other great film trilogies that, in your humble opinion, are worth peoples’ time? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
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Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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