10 Greatest Film Trilogies Of All Time
7. Planet Of The Apes - The Caesar Trilogy
Who would have thought that one of the best hard science-fiction series in modern cinema would end up being a trilogy of prequels to Planet of the Apes? After Tim Burton's reboot left a bad taste in our collective memories, the mere concept of Rise of the Planet of the Apes had doom written all over it. Mercifully, those expectations proved to be way, way off-base.
Focusing on the life and development of the ape Caesar, Rise showed a different perspective of the Apes mythology that paid tribute to the original whilst forging its own path. The sequels Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes took the concept further, delving into provocative socio-political commentary far smarter than you'd expect from movies that feature talking chimps riding on horses whilst dual-wielding machine guns.
But what makes this prequel trilogy so remarkable is Andy Serkis' phenomenal lead performance as Caesar. Thanks to his phenomenal motion capture performance and the amazing CGI courtesy of Weta Digital, Caesar and his simian followers feel just as real as any of the actual human characters.
On top of that, the development of Caesar as a character from naive young chimp to hardened saviour of apekind is fascinating to see played out over the three films. This trilogy may have only just ended, but the way these films perfectly nail that balance between thought-provoking and entertaining makes them more than worthy of a spot.