War for the Planet of the Apes and Third Films in Trilogies

A third film in a trilogy is a tricky thing to pull off. It needs to be enjoyable as a stand-alone but it also carries the unwritten obligation of tying up all the narrative strands from the previous two features in a satisfactory manner. Whether or not the film-makers decide to oblige is of course up to them, but that doesn’t change what the audience expects. That’s not to say that film-makers should ever pander to the expectations of the observer, though an awareness and understanding of the expected narrative codes is necessary especially if the film-maker chooses to subvert them.

War for the Planet of the Apes is very much a ‘tying together of the narrative strands’ kind of film. It fits consistently with the other two films in tone and explores satisfactorily the continuation of Caesar’s character arc. However, there are quite a few things that do not work narratively (see my review for details) and some of the other characters feel like hastily written plot devices which is a shame. What could have been a triumphant finale to the trilogy ends up being a serviceable conclusion and nothing more – the weakest of the trilogy.

Let’s compare this to other third films in trilogies. While there are some films mentioned that do now have further entries in their franchise, I still consider the first three as a trilogy. (NB I’ve only included trilogies where I have seen all three films).

Favourite of the Trilogy

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989) – just beats Raiders to the top spot for me. I particularly enjoy the father-son dynamic between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) – though I have rose-tinted memories of seeing The Phantom Menace in theatres, Revenge is the only one of the prequels I have managed to bring myself to rewatch.

Middle of the Trilogy

Back to the Future Part III (1990) – the one with the train! Less muddled than Part II but nowhere near the sheer brilliance of the 1985 original.

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)  perhaps one of my favourite trilogies, Ultimatum provided a superb end to the Jason Bourne arc (shame about the fifth). The Waterloo scene is a highlight and the last shot is brilliant.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) – a real mess of a trilogy sadly. Took a fun, short novel and turned it into a tonally serious, CGI-bloated, 8 hour drag. Desolation is worse for me solely because of the ending/lack of ending/most blatant ‘you must see the next instalment’ I have ever witnessed.

Least Favourite of the Trilogy

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – does a good job of tying together loose ends. Tom Hardy is great, the soundtrack is the best of the three.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) – this is probably my favourite trilogy of all time. It’s my least favourite of the three because it really goes overboard on tying up loose ends in the last few scenes. The book is similar though so I can’t really knock it too much…

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) – Johnny Depp is still excellent but, similar to Back to the Future, the original stands head and shoulders above all other instalments.

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) – I’ve never been a big fan of the ewoks and they do take up a large section of the film.

Toy Story 3 (2010) – a fitting end to the trilogy, 3 unfortunately suffers from rehashing a lot of the narrative elements of 2. Still good though.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) – a bit of a mess really. Suffers most from the consistent excellence of the first two.

 

Need to see: The Godfather: Part III, Spider-Man 3, Three Colours: Red, Before Midnight, Captain America: Civil War, The Matrix Revolutions, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Blade: Trinity, Star Trek Beyond, & The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.