What’s better than one movie? Two movies. What’s better than two movies? Three movies. If I passed the last 10 years of school math, that makes a trilogy of movies. It’s always great for stories to take their time and expand upon each other, and doing that over a trilogy is a great way of achieving this. This is a listing of some pretty great movie trilogies that you should check out if you haven’t, some you may have heard of, others maybe not.
1. The How to Train Your Dragon trilogy (How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World)
You can’t deny the amazingness and impact this movie trilogy had on the animation industry, resulting in becoming one of my favorite trilogies ever. Each one of these movies have such great emotional storytelling. And also dragons (emphasis on the dragons). Setting up a well-known premise of people versus dragons, this series expertly subverts this trope to give us one of, if not the, best friendships between a person and an animal. I can’t decide which one of the trilogy is the best movie, they’re all so good. You care so much about the main character and his dragon buddy (who is adorable!!) and root for them in their adventures. Each film has such great animation too (I will say that the third one probably has the best) and amazing soundtracks. These three films will leave you with a sense of heartwarming triumph, and I highly recommend this trilogy.
2. The Irish Folklore trilogy (Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers)
Okay, so technically I’ve only seen two out of the three movies, sue me. However, the first two movies were absolutely stunning and I have to talk about them (and chances are I will like the third just as much. Even on the slim chance I don’t like the story, its animation is still amazing). This is a trilogy from the amazing Irish-based animation studio, Cartoon Saloon, who have taken stories from their origins and made an anthology from them. You don’t have to watch these movies in order, and each one had a wholly original and intriguing story (my favorite so far is the second one, Song of the Sea), with gorgeous animation. Seriously, these guys are still going with traditional 2D animation and absolutely PROVE that it is an art form that must be preserved. This animation studio and their movies are criminally underrated, yet critically acclaimed, and anyone can watch their trilogy and become magically mesmerized by the stories and culture featured in them.
3. The Planet of the Apes trilogy (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes)
Gosh, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t include the Planet of the Apes trilogy on this list.
This series only gets better after each one, and you can tell that everyone involved in this masterpiece is so incredibly passionate and talented. Directed by Matt Reeves, each film is so distinct and emotional, filled to the brim with breathtaking cinematography, thought-provoking themes, and characters you connect with on a personal level. Even the villains have understandable (and sometimes heartbreaking) reasons for their motives. One of the highlights of the trilogy has to be the performance of Andy Serkis as the titular character, Caesar, who brings an amazing performance in motion capture and voice for the lead. Personally, Dawn was my favorite of the trilogy, but it might shift from time to time, as War ends the trilogy on such a high and powerful note. If you haven’t seen this trilogy, it is a must watch, please go see it.