By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Movies & TV - Sequels better than the original

In cinema, sequels are often treated as, to quote a certain sequel, "by definition inferior products."

Are there any movie sequels that you feel exceed their progenitor, and what makes them better in your opinion?



Around the Network

Sure, there's tons of em.

Terminator 2, Dark Knight, Godfather 2, Aliens, Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum, Blade 2, any Mission Impossible after 2, Lethal Weapon 2, Empire Strikes Back, Spiderman 2, Winter Soldier, Xmen 2, Mad Max 2 and Fury Road, Fast and Furious 5, Thor Ragnarok, Logan, a bunch of James Bond movies....could go on and on really. Sequels are definitely not inferior. Some of the best movies of all time are sequels.



mZuzek said:

I am convinced that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the greatest movie ever made and people just don't want to accept it.

I'm not even sure that would crack the top 1000 lol



I thought this was about games, but regardless, I'll say Pikmin 2.



My bet with The_Liquid_Laser: I think the Switch won't surpass the PS2 as the best selling system of all time. If it does, I'll play a game of a list that The_Liquid_Laser will provide, I will have to play it for 50 hours or complete it, whatever comes first. 

I'm sure there'll be disagreement with these:

Blade Runner 2049
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (very close with Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I love the Ford / Connery combo here)

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Agree with mentions of The Empire Strikes Back. I'd take The Terminator and Alien over their sequels though.

Bond is an interesting one, having covered so many years and having so many different people work on the series, direct comparisons don't feel quite the same as with many others. That said, dividing into eras by actor, Connery and Moore fit the trend with From Russia with Love, Goldfinger and The Spy Who Loved Me.

Last edited by drbunnig - on 28 October 2020

Around the Network
Ka-pi96 said:
Lord of the Rings The Two Towers & Return of the King

While I agree on The Return of the King, I always found The Two Towers slightly inferior to The Fellowship. The Battle of Helm's Deep is damn great, but the overall film is not as well paced as the other two, and it lacks that feeling of idyll, charm and discovery that made the first one outstanding for me (while also lacks the sense of constant danger and almost despair that blends into the greatness and epicity of the third one). The Fellowship of the Ring is the entrance to the Middle-earth, and I'd say it's almost perfect in being that. It does an awesome job portraying the Tolkien universe and the first steps of the fellowship.

The Two Towers was incredible too, but it was like a couple of steps back in that regard and, apart from the Helm's Deep, it didn't have its own strong feeling or sense of "somethingness".

But that's just my opinion, and I know it's not the most popular one. =P I understand why people would prefer The Two Towers over The Fellowship. In the end, both are incredibly amazing for what they are.

drbunnig said:

I'm sure there'll be disagreement with these:

Blade Runner 2049
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (very close with Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I love the Ford / Connery combo here)

You're right, there's disagreement. =P At least with Blade Runner. In the case of Indiana Jones, the first and second movies have more or less the same quality to me too, I couldn't choose one or the other.

But Blade Runner 2049, while also being a good film, wasn't as powerful and top-notch as the first one, in my opinion, and I think the main reason was the awesome villain the original had. I saw Blade Runner a long time ago, so I've got more memories that anything else, but I remember that the villain was great, not only for the scene we all know, but in general. Roy was kind of Blade Runner's Joker, in the sense that his presence on the movie lifted it to an even higher level (also, it's easy to like him). Blade Runner 2049 didn't have anything near that.



I'm mostly a lurker now.

Dark Knight for sure!



The Dark Knight and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King



     


(=^・ω・^=) Kuroneko S2 - Ore no Imouto - SteamMyAnimeList and Twitter - PSN: Gustavo_Valim - Switch FC: 6390-8693-0129 (=^・ω・^=)

Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan.  Its predecessor is one of the weakest Trek films period, while Khan is widely regarded as the best of the TOS movies and remains everyone's reference point for top quality Trek movies.  To be favorably compared to Khan is a success in its own right.

22 Jump Street / Austin Powers 2.  While both of these recycle the jokes of the previous, comedic timing and delivery is greatly improved, and everyone just seems to be a lot more confident with the roles and having a lot more fun.  

Mission: Impossible - Fallout > Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (while most of the franchise has some loose continuity, Fallout is a direct sequel to Rogue Nation).  The stakes are high, the tension and sense of urgency rarely ever lets up, and Fallout manages not only to build upon Rogue Nation but draw elements and story beats from the rest of the series as well.

John Wick 3 > 2 > OG  Each movie is great, but as the stakes become greater and the production value is slowly dialed up, more is revealed of the world's lore and the side characters get more to do.

Troll 2.  While technically not a sequel for it doesn't have any of the same characters or even any trolls in it (I think the studio just had such little faith in the movie they declared it a sequel to guarantee at least a few ticket sales), Troll 2 managed to be a laughably bad movie while Troll is just a bad and utterly forgettable one.  

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.  Manages to one-up Black Pearl in almost every respect.



100% agree here



steve