10 Best CGI Movie Characters Ever

1. Cesar - Planet Of The Apes Trilogy

Lord of the Rings Gollum
20th Century Fox

After Tim Burton’s 2001’s Planet of the Apes remake, did anybody want to see another new spin on the legendary Planet of the Apes franchise? Hell no! When it was announced that 20th Century Fox was giving the famed Apes series a do-over in 2011, many broke out in cold sweats at the thought of something as similarly lame as Burton’s take. Fortunately, this new trilogy of Apes efforts was absolutely phenomenal. And key to that, of course, was the character of Cesar.

Mo-capped by the brilliant Andy Serkis, Cesar’s three-movie arc was emotional, intense, and delivered with a poignancy rarely seen by any other CGI character in the history of cinema. It may be a bold statement, but moviegoers have never been as emotionally invested in a CGI character as they were with Cesar.

Forget those worries of Fox monkeying around unnecessarily with a beloved property. Instead, with Rise, Dawn, and War, fans were treated to some stunning new additions to the Planet of the Apes franchise. There’s an even a very valid argument to be made that all three of these recent pictures are amongst the top five Apes films in the franchise’s long-running history. And key to all of this success? That would be the jaw-dropping achievement of the Cesar character.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.