Best Sequels

An unpopular opinion, I know, but usually I'm disappointed at how one-dimensional movies are. Especially sequels. No one cares to follow things through, or make them real. This one took all the threads from the first two films, and wound them together so well it left me astonished. And it never once sold my intelligence short. There were flaws, yes, but nowhere near as many as in say, X-Men 3, or even Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Also, I just have to mention--while I love Johnny and his Jack Sparrow, he was never meant to be the hero of this piece. The hero's name is Will Turner. And he and his girl reclaimed the series by the end. To me, that was part of what made it so great.

As I said on my favorite movies list, I really do think this is the best of the series, and even with the major cuts that had to be done (and one that should have), Peter Jackson and the rest of the crew really performed a miracle with this one.

I loved Spider-Man, but this sequel is one of the few I can say surpassed the original. The first movie gets preachy at times, but this one... The balance is just perfect. And Doc Oc was an excellent choice for villain.

While it doesn't really live up to the brilliance that was Star Wars, I know I'm not the only one who sees this movie as the best of the series. If there had been more like this, it would have been a very different series.

I think that most Trek fans will agree that this was the pinnacle of the movie series. Sure, there were a few others that were good, but this one was great in a way none of the others succeeded. I think it was because, unlike TMP, it built on the original show, and still managed to have intensity and pop and interest. The best of the series.

T2 was one of those movies where the first wasn't meant to be more than a B-movie, but it's popularity made a sequel not only possible, but necessary. And despite itself, it worked. And worked well. Didn't the third time, though...

Though this was where the movie series started to lose the thread of the book series, as a movie in its own right, it's an excellently done story. The only flaws are the dropping of certain explanations in the book, and the time-turner issues, which are straight out of the book (plus or minus a bit), and therefore aren't the film's fault.

While Star Trek II is considered by most fans to be the penultimate Trek film, for those who might not be the biggest fans, it was IV that reached out to pull them in. The tone of the story simply makes it a more accessible storyline than II, which required an interest in the characters, if not a specific knowledge of the episode the movie followed up on.

While not as good as the first, this movie is a worthy follow-up. Particularly in the back-story for Wolverine.

Unlike the third film, which stretches things too thin, this movie actually adds several excellent pieces to the third story, and continues the tone of humor from the first story, not the least in the early conversations between Shrek and Fiona's father, and also in the addition of Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots and Rupert Everett as Prince Charming.

Unlike the second film, which had points that were quite wince-inducing, this was a worthy sequel to the first film. And the addition of Sean Connery as Indy's dad was an excellent choice.

The best of the Next Gen Star Trek movies, because it rested lightly on the mythos that had already been built up by both series, while not bogging down in the rediculous most of the later original series and all the other Next Gen movies ended up with.

Here's to hoping the new one will be this kind of storytelling.

Okay, I freely admit, this isn't one of the best sequels ever. But it holds a soft place in my heart, as I've always been a Superman/Lois fangirl, ever since I can remember knowing about them.

This one is just fun. And takes all the inverted jokes of the original, which was making fun of the genre in general, and inverts them further to make fun of the original movie. An enjoyable watch.

I remember walking out of the theatre for this movie and thinking it was better than the first. Not so sure about that any more, but I really don't think it's a bad movie. And it still has the full original cast, unlike the third. There are some definite flaws here, and some obvious contradictions of the first movie's plot, but there are also some wonderful moments that more than make up for the ridiculous ones. Though I do wish they'd let a certain character die, rather than recasting them...