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The movie also works because, again given the fact that the book was already written when the first was made, it is not trying to be a prequel. Most of the times a prequel is made because there is a successful, popular franchise, and studios are trying to milk every last penny from the golden egg. The result can be mostly catastrophic rehashes of a good concept. Not so with The Rainbow, which wasn’t artificially constructed as a wooden prequel to a popular genre movie.

X-Men: First Class

I really enjoyed the first of the X-Men adaptions, but thought the latter two were a bit redundant and derivative. Wholly refreshing, however, was the first prequel, released in 2011 with what was then a cast of relatively new faces, including now-mainstays Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence. Much of the strength of this movie lies, in fact, with the strong performances of those two, along with James McAvoy, a welcome respite from the more wooden denouements of the likes of Halle Berry, James Marsden, and even Anna Paquin. The film also has a lot of what works in a prequel: clear ties to the original without being extremely obvious or in-your-face-about it (coughRevengeoftheSithcough). And shirtless Hugh Jackman is always a welcome element in any movie, prequel or otherwise, so there’s that too.

To top things off, the action sequences are solid and the effects worthy, making this an overall welcome prequel to an established and respected franchise. I’ve yet to see the sequel to the prequel, but I have high hopes for it given the solid First Class.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Technically speaking, several of the movies that were made after the original Planet of the Apes took place before they events of the first movie. But they are all horrible movies. Not so for the first entry, and first full prequel, of the franchise in almost 40 years – Rise of the Planet of the Apes. James Franco’s somewhat annoying screen presence notwithstanding, Rise passes as an action movie, a thriller, and even a horror story at the same time. The visual effects were stunning, particularly the facial enhancement technology used to replicate human expressions on the apes. The plot did not completely avoid the obvious pitfalls - the horrible humans who treat apes poorly, the nobly sacrificed ape who demonstrates apes are kinder, etc. - but this should not detract from an otherwise imaginative and even, dare I say it, plausible explanation for the events that we know will later take place.

My favorite throwback to the original movie of any prequel is also in this movie: a passing TV show reporting of the departure of certain astronauts into orbit - we know these astronauts are meant to be the protagonists of the original movie, many years into the future. Again, subtle but welcome. The sequel to this movie is one of my most anticipated movies for the summer.

Red Dragon

Like The Rainbow, this movie is technically only a prequel because it happened to be made after The Silence of the Lambs, despite the fact that both books had been written by the time the original movie was made. Nevertheless, Red Dragon ends up high on my list because it features a strong cast that all deliver memorable performances - not an easy thing to do with Anthony Hopkins’ undeniable Hannibal Lecter sharing the scene. The plot is also well told and who can forget the tie-in to the original movie - an ominous mention of agent Clarice Sterling at the end.

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