Trilogies can be hard especially when it comes down to the endings. In a lot of cases the first two films will be great, but once you get to the third film everything falls apart. Perfect examples are Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Christopher Nolan’s Batman. Granted Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight are classics in their own right, but each respective follow-up ventures off into territory that divided fans.
On the other hand, sometimes you only get one good film, and it’s nothing but diminishing returns with the sequels. For example, The Matrix works perfect as a standalone film, with none of the sequels really matching up to it.
While there’re dozens of examples of trilogies with poor endings, there are also some solid exceptions: trilogies where each entry only gets better. In my opinion, one of those trilogies is the most recent Planet of the Apes trilogy that launched in 2011.
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The Planet of the Apes is one that has spanned several decades beginning in 1968 with the original. The sequels to that film were of varying quality, the remake from 2001 by Tim Burton is best left forgotten. What makes the new trilogy so good is that it didn’t try to rely on callbacks to the original films. It took elements from them and crafted it’s own story. The character of Caesar does come from the original series, but the writers took that character and story elements and expanded on them by creating a new origin for the series.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes came out in 2011, and I remember there being some skepticism before its release. People felt a little cynical at the idea of bringing the franchise back so soon after the Burton film. There was disappointment at the decision to use motion capture instead of practical make up like the other films. However, when the film came out, many people were pleasantly surprised at just how good it is.
Personally, there’s one big reason why the film and trilogy as a whole connects so well with audiences and that is the fact that in all of them Caesar is the main character. Most of the time when you have a film with CGI non-human characters, there’s always a desire by the studios to keep the focus on the humans. You look at the first few Transformers films and you might be surprised to realize just how little the titular characters are actually in those films. Rise was marketed with a focus on James Franco’s character, which was fine then because of how much of a bankable star was at the time. It helped get audiences interested. But when you watched the film, you realized after that he really wasn’t the main character. There are long stretches that focus on Caesar as he attempts to adapt to a new life and environment with other apes after being sheltered his whole life.
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There’s a story about the making of the original Superman film by Richard Donner. He apparently said that he wanted to treat the film as if it were a biblical epic, a story that begins with the characters birth then shifts to his formative years before finally becoming a legendary figure at the end. The new Apes trilogy kind of does that exact thing. We start with Caesar as a baby, we see his relationship with his adoptive family. Then he grows up, becomes the leader of his race, and has a family of his own. Along the way he makes allies, enemies and has to deal with humanity’s cruel response to the Apes’ unplanned evolution before finally sacrificing himself so that they can continue to live.
Every film had a notable actor in a human role, including Gary Oldman and Woody Harrelson. While each of them gave a great performance, the series never shifts away from the plight of Caesar or the apes.
The second film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes might have the franchise’s best villain with Koba. The relationship between him and Caesar is most comparable Professor X and Magneto. Caesar was raised by kind people who showed him the best of humanity. Koba was only ever exposed to the worst of humanity, being tortured and experimented on his whole life. So, despite the terrible things he does you can’t help but feel his character’s tragic motivation.
The final film, War for the Planet of the Apes deals with Caesar’s internal conflict trying to avoid becoming fueled by rage like Koba. After losing half his family to Harrelson’s villainous Colonel, he seeks revenge. And you want him to get justice, but you also don’t want him to lose himself. When he finally sees the Colonel in the climax of the film, he Caesar makes his most difficult decision yet. With the Colonel infected by a new strain of the virus that gave the apes intelligence, Caesar chooses to let him live. He realizes that not only should ape not kill ape, but all killing is just as pointless. On top of dying to save his friends and family, it’s a good way to conclude his character’s arc.
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One of the last reasons I believe this trilogy is so great is the acting. I’ve already mentioned the great work by the human actors, but the real praise all goes to Andy Serkis and the other actors in motion capture. Serkis had already established himself as the king of physical performances with his turns as Gollum and King Kong. Serkis’ performance in War especially should have gotten recognition from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. That’s still his face performing in those scenes, that’s still his voice. Similarly, Toby Kebbell gave a great performance as Koba in Dawn. You could feel the rage and pain with that character in every scene he was in. Those aren’t characters that are just created from nothing in a computer. You needed real actors in order for the films to work.
And I know that there’s always a debate of whether or not motion capture performance should be considered for awards due to the already-existing awards for visual effects. I understand it’s probably not a very simple decision. But the VFX artists for this series deserved so much praise for their work. Fun fact: it did not win any Oscars, especially for its groundbreaking VFX.
This weekend, the series returns with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Although Serkis isn’t involved, if the film understands what made the original three films so great I think we’re in for yet another great set of films. I personally can’t wait to see how this story continues.
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