Dre Rivas
Video editor, Film.com contributor, an all around pleasant fella, Dre Rivas' mystery is only exceeded by his power.
The Definitive List of Superior Sequels
Dre Rivas May 25, 2009
Sequels almost never live up to their predecessors. It’s just a sad fact of life. When you think about it, most sequels are kind of doomed from the start because — for the most part — their existence is born out of greed. The studios want to relive the magic — the box office magic. They don’t make sequels out of movies because the originals were really good. They make sequels out of movies that made money. Period. Whether or not they were any good is inconsequential (see: 98% of horror films).
Still, every once in a while the gods must be crazy and so a sequel lives up to its big bother and sometimes even surpasses it. Here are 14 sequels superior to their predecessors, listed alphabetically. Why 14? Because 15 would have muddied the waters.
Addams Family Values
Leave it to the ladies — in this case Christina Ricci and Joan Cusack — to make what today would normally be a throwaway sequel into a comedy good enough to improve on the original. It’s almost bizarre to think but there was a time when cinematographer-turned-director Barry Sonnenfeld was a reliable filmmaker, at one point going back-to-back-to-back with Addams Family Values, Get Shorty, and Men in Black. Poor guy never recovered from Wild Wild West (the great Pushing Daisies aside).
Aliens
I can’t honestly say this is a better movie than Ridley Scott‘s Alien, but I can say it’s my favorite of the franchise and that’s worth something, I guess. James Cameron doesn’t so much improve upon the original film as morph it. Instead of a science fiction horror film that says, “Hey, science fiction horror doesn’t have to be crap!” this was a science fiction action film that said, “Please hand your balls over to me. I’m about to be squeeze them.” There was nothing on this planet quite like Aliens when it arrived, and I’m not sure there’s been anything quite like it since, though not from lack of trying.
The Bourne Supremacy
I’m going to let you all in on a little secret. The best film in this franchise is not The Bourne Ultimatum. It’s this, the second film, the first film Paul Greengrass took over. First of all, Supremacy has the best car chase in the trio. What Jason Bourne does to Karl Urban in the tunnel is one of the coolest freaking things I’ve seen. Frank Martin on his best day couldn’t hang with Jason Bourne, okay? Secondly, of all the films, this one feels the most personal. Someone very dear to him has been taken away and from that point on, Bourne is an unstoppable machine. Ultimatum is merely a continuation of that story with less interesting fallout. I mean, how many sub-ops have to be revealed already? We get it. I actually like the third film quite a bit but I’m an imperfect man, and it bugs me a little that this film gets slept on. Entirely on its own, it is a very good thriller with a surprisingly delicate ending. Recognize.
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight isn’t just better than Batman Begins, it was damn near the best American film made last year. A great villain (or two) and a very interesting screenplay really took things to the next level. Why so few words for such a great movie? Because everyone’s tired of talking about how good it is.
The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: A New Hope started it all and introduced us to iconic characters in a strange new world. Empire built on that with a darker continuation of the story, introducing a whole new host of icons. Most importantly, Empire has Yoda as performed by Frank Oz. You have to love the dark, cliffhanger ending and whose mouth didn’t drop when Vader dropped that bomb on Luke’s head? “Dude … I am your father.” Nutty.
This is another case of me not being entirely comfortable saying this is a better film than the original but when push comes to shove it’s my favorite of the saga. Watching Pacino share the screen with Lee Strasberg is a treat but so is the portrayal of Frankie Pentangeli by the great Michael V. Gazzo. John Cazale gets a meatier role this go-around (who can forget that New Year’s Eve kiss in Cuba?) and Bobby D. has no problems holding the mantle for Marlon Brando. There’s all kinds of great things to savor here. If you’re a fan of the first film, the flashback stuff is almost geeky fun, adding layers to an already rich world, not to mention the “modern” story as well. And whereas Michael Corleone’s actions in the first film can be explained if not excused, here he sinks deeper into the abyss and you know there could never be a happy ending.
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
I don’t get blown away by a movie easily. I loved Fellowship of the Ring. Loved it. And I became madly in love with the extended cut on DVD. But The Two Towers nearly knocked me out of my seat when I saw it in the midnight showing at the Muvico Premier many moons ago. I remember leaving the theater being just completely floored. It’s funnier than Fellowship and more action-packed than Fellowship with one hell of a set piece at it’s climax. Howard Shore’s soundtrack is even better. Hell, “Gollum’s Song” — as performed by Emiliana Torrini — is the best of the series. Add all this up and then add that it has only one or two endings when compared to Return of the King‘s 12,000 and it equals: better than the first one.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
I enjoyed the original POTC mainly because of Johnny Depp‘s Captain Jack Sparrow but I thought it was incredibly bloated and about 45 minutes too long, so I wasn’t incredibly excited for the second entry. In fact, I was so unexcited that I stayed home and eventually caught it on DVD. And I was very surprised. Dead Man’s Chest is superior to it’s predecessor in every way. Oh, it’s bloated, but where I felt bored by all the plotting in the first film, I was continuously delighted with the second’s even more complicated sub-plotting. The surprise ending also helped. Too bad they couldn’t close out the series properly, though.
The Road Warrior
I have an admission to make. I can’t watch the original Mad Max anymore. I just can’t. My attitude is this: Why should I when I own The Road Warrior? I’m a George Miller fan. In fact, I almost included another George Miller film on this list (the criminally underrated Babe 2: Pig in the City). I have no problem here putting The Road Warrior on the big board though, especially because it features one of the great chase scenes put to screen.
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 works completely from start to finish, something I don’t think can be said of the original, which for me always died a little in the last act. The blend of action and humor is still there but somehow Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire managed to make Peter’s dilemma fresh and more interesting this time around.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
The best Trek adventure has a very simple story at its core. I watched this one again recently and despite the dated costumes (check out the getup Bones puts on in the opening act and tell me Bruno wouldn’t be all over that) and hair and effects, it’s my favorite of the franchise because it’s tight, thrilling, with a great villain and an emotional ending. Then again, it wasn’t very hard to improve upon the utterly humorless Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which — for those of you out there scratching your chin, trying to remember — did (allegedly) contain actual “motion” somewhere in its two hour (or as I like to refer to it, four hour) plus running time.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
James Cameron kind of did with this film what he did with Aliens. He made the second film of a science fiction classic more of an action film. Both films are still a little scary (especially Aliens), but it was still a pretty clear shift and as a result, one of the great action films was born.
Toy Story 2
It’s been called The Godfather Part II of animation films and with good reason. One of the great things about the original Toy Story was the simplistic nature of it’s story, so it’s a little surprising that Pixar decided to complicate things in the second film. What isn’t surprising is that it all worked so well and managed to be just as emotionally effective as it’s predecessor, if not more so. The animation improved vastly and the story cuts a little deeper. And wasn’t it fun to see the tables turned on Buzz as he has to deal with the other Buzz Lightyear in the toy store?
X2: X-Men United
This is a clear case of the sequel just being flat-out better than the original. The first X-Men was surprisingly solid but its sequel was damn near glorious, and that’s what made fanboys everywhere hue and cry over Ratner’s very mediocre third film. It’s always nice when a movie opens and ends (an ending echoing Wrath of Khan) with a bang. But this one delivered pretty much all the way through, expanding on the characters and their relationships, not to mention upping the ante in the action department.
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Dre writes two times a week for Film.com. Email him!
Tags: sequels that were better than original, the dark knight, the empire strikes back
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