Board 8 > Movie sequels better than the original

(+) Yeah! (+)

Unlike with video games, where improving technology and lessons learned have made numerous sequels superior, and TV shows, where the first season is often a search for identity (and thus varies wildly in quality vs. later seasons), movie sequels often struggle to capture what made the first one so great. What are some times where the second movie (or even the third) was better than the first one?

This does count Star Wars - where ESB is commonly regarded as the best of them, since its bigger budget, introduction of Yoda, and more thorough plot add up to an even better product than the first - and James Bond, where From Russia With Love built upon Dr. No's foundation in every way imaginable. But I'm more thinking about times when there were only two or three movies total, and those weren't just released as two parts of one extra-long movie like Kill Bill or the new Dune.

One I was thinking of when making this topic was Bourne. Identity was very hard to believe due to its portrayal of the USA as authoritarian communists, but Supremacy rectified the issues that movie caused (in part through retconning the size of the operation hunting Bourne) and still managed to be an enjoyable ride itself. I can also see an argument for Back to the Future Part II, since that one understands how time travel can affect the course of events better than the first, but the first still has charm that the second one doesn't.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is certainly a better film than Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

The Dark Knight
Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Mad Max 2. Also Mad Max Fury Road but that may be beyond the scope of the question. In the spirit of it seems to be more direct sequels than entries in longrunning franchises.

T2 has to be the standard for this right?

I'll be cheeky though and say Silence of the Lambs.

I was considering Mad Max as well

LightningStrikes posted...

Mad Max 2. Also Mad Max Fury Road but that may be beyond the scope of the question.

Yeah, I thought similarly regarding... well... most Star Trek films after the first, so I stuck with just II. But I'd have listed like 10-11 flicks in the franchise, if not, haha.

5tarscream posted...

The Dark Knight
Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

These, both subjectively and objectively

T2: Judgment Day and Aliens subjectively only

Debatable opinion for some, but Rocky II

GenesisSaga posted...

These, both subjectively and objectively

T2: Judgment Day and Aliens subjectively only

I also thought about listing Aliens, but yeah, that's a pretty even split on which film folks prefer over the other. Subjectively, I concur.

Alien is a Tier 1 horror movie
Aliens is a Tier 1 action movie

it's unfair to compare them against each other imo

Yea, I'm one of the ones that prefers Terminator 1 and Alien

5tarscream posted...

The Dark Knight
Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

This absolutely though

Ive always thought godfather part 2 was superior To the first

A recent example - Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

im sorry but the original really does not hold up. The new one was a really fun time, though.

FFDragon posted...

Alien is a Tier 1 horror movie
Aliens is a Tier 1 action movie

it's unfair to compare them against each other imo

The only thing I know for certain is that I prefer them both over anything Alien-related since (although the most recent installment was surprisingly decent).

Leonhart4 posted...

Debatable opinion for some, but Rocky II

I would say that is not a common opinion at all. Especially at the time Rocky II was viewed as a relative disappointment. Though if you prefer it thats fine, Im sure there are still plenty who do.

Oh, I agree it's not the prevailing opinion, but I'd say it's not that uncommon of one either.

Evil Dead 2
Dawn of the Dead
Spider-Man 2

Agreed on Mad Max and Aliens but not on Terminator (though this is barely relevant since both T1 and T2 are both nearly fucking perfect movies in my opinion; though this similarly applies to the first two Alien movies). And though I'm not sure which one I think is better, I think a lot of people would say Shrek 2

Sonic 2 probably just off the top of my head

Spider-man 2 also

My cheeky response is Matrix Reloaded

But I agree with most of the responses in here as well

XIII_Rocks posted...

Sonic 2 probably just off the top of my head

Spider-man 2 also

Sonic 3 definitely is the best of the three

Also I agree Spider-Man 2 is better but I think the first movie is a little underrated

Shrek

Puss in Boots 2

Paddington 2

FFDragon posted...

T2 has to be the standard for this right?

I'll be cheeky though and say Silence of the Lambs.

I prefer Terminator to T2. The introduction of Edward Furlong does NOT a better film make.

FL81 posted...

Puss in Boots 2

oh yeah this and Sonic are good recent examples

it's so easy to forget The Last Wish even is a sequel to begin with

Evil Dead for sure

I might be the only one with this opinion, but Grease 2 over Grease.

Sandy's plotline in Grease aged kind of bad.

Lopen posted...

My cheeky response is Matrix Reloaded

But I agree with most of the responses in here as well

I agree with this lol

Oh yeah as far as animated

Shrek 2
Puss in Boots the Last Wish

The former just barely and I will hear arguments as to why the original is superior, but if you think PiB > TLW we can't be friends anymore

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

The recent Sonic trilogy is also a pretty clean example of each movie topping the previous one. Not sure if they'll manage it for the fourth but we'll see.

If we're talking about within the MCU franchises, Ragnarok is the best Thor, No Way Home is the best MCU Spider-Man, and Infinity War is the best Avengers.

Pirateking2000 posted...

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

3 > 1 > 2 for Lord of the Rings, so Return of the King qualifies here

I personally prefer Dead Man's Chest to Curse of the Black Pearl.

I do like Dead Man's Chest, but Curse of the Black Pearl is probably in my top ten favorite movies

Haven't seen these movies (yes, I know), but are Die Hard 1 and Back to the Future 1 generally considered the best ones?

Two horror prequels that came to mind when reading this.

Ouija: Origin of Evil
Annabelle: Creation

Leonhart4 posted...

Haven't seen these movies (yes, I know), but are Die Hard 1 and Back to the Future 1 generally considered the best ones?

that's right. Die Hard 3 > 1 and one of the BTTF sequels > 1 aren't unheard of opinions, but they're both pretty unpopular

(I haven't seen any of the Die Hard sequels, but I have seen all three BTTFs and I think the sequels are far inferior to the first one)

Yeah BTTF 1 and DH1 are way ahead of the sequels. The sequels for both aren't even bad it's just the originals are so damn good.

Top Gun: Maverick

The first one's still a fun watch, but holy hell did they do great with the sequel

Die Hard 1 is mostly universally agreed to be the best one. My personal second is 4, then 3. 2 is forgettable and 5 is glossy action trash that at least as a couple fun parts.

As I said in the opening post, BTTF2 has an argument if you're talking how time travel would realistically change things, but it lacks the charm of the first one. It just depends on how you like your time travel stories. The first one is easily the best if you overlook the fact that Marty would have erased his existence by changing how his parents hooked up. But if you can't... BTTF2 is a better movie for you. (BTTF3 is trash.)

Terrifier 2

Smile 2

I have a few subjective ideas that haven't been mentioned yet.

-The Rescuers Down Under. The original 70s film is pretty forgettable for me. While the sequel isn't great, it keeps the strong voice work from Gabor and Newhart and adds visuals that hold up to this day.
-Army of Darkness, Gremlins 2. I don't like horror, so naturally I'd prefer the more action/comedy focused sequels to the originals.
-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Bride of Frankenstein

DomaDragoon posted...

-The Rescuers Down Under. The original 70s film is pretty forgettable for me. While the sequel isn't great, it keeps the strong voice work from Gabor and Newhart and adds visuals that hold up to this day.

Plus John Candy outshining everyone.

I thought about mentioning this one but I dunno that I like it THAT much more than the original. I think in my last Disney canon ranking I had them right next to each other, with the sequel edging the original out.

5tarscream posted...

The Dark Knight

Yeah this is probably the best example

Lopen posted...

My cheeky response is Matrix Reloaded

I almost said this.....maybe it's not the outright better movie, but the action sequences are on another level

Evil Dead 2
Rocky IV
Star Trek Wrath of Kahn

Dr. No is not the best James Bond movie
Harry Potter 1 probably wasn't the best one either
I want to sat the same about Fast and the Furious, but I'll admit that I never actually saw the first one.

That's all just off the top of the head.

Xtlm posted...

I want to say the same about Fast and the Furious, but I'll admit that I never actually saw the first one.

Can confirm, 5 through 8 are all better than the first four films.

ZeroSignal posted...

Can confirm, 5 through 8 are all better than the first four films.

This is defo a hot take. Most people i've seen online think 1-3 are better than the rest.

is Tokyo Drift the third one

Pretty sure that's considered one of the bad ones