I’m sure we’ve all heard this before. “It’s fine. Pretty good actually. But the original is far better.” That is indeed a hurdle a lot of franchises run into. A lot of times, movie sequels aren’t as good as the originals. Perhaps it’s our expectations. I remember watching John Wick with little to no expectations at all, and I remember walking out of the cinema not only pleasantly surprised but completely blown away. It was an action film, unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The choreography, the stunt work, the slick direction. Everything felt fresh. John Wick 2, as fun as it was, couldn’t capture the magic of the original. A lot of films run into this problem.
However, this does mean that sequels can never be as good or better than the original. The Dark Knight , for instance, is not only better than Batman Begins, it’s also one of the greatest cinematic treasures of our time. Speaking off, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has just listed 28 movie sequels that are better than the original. Gunn listed of these 28 films on Twitter, with one note: he’s specifically talking about a 2nd movie only. Check out the list below:
- Toy Story 2
- Godfather II
- Spider-Man 2
- Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
- Evil Dead 2
- Shrek 2
- The Dark Knight
- Bride of Frankenstein
- Hellboy II
- Road Warrior
- For a Few Dollars More
- Paddington 2
- X2: X-Men United
- Empire Strikes Back
- Wrath of Kahn
- Superman II
- Batman Returns
- Gremlins 2
- Blade II
- Legend of the Drunken Master
- Desperado
- Blade Runner 2049
- Magnum Force
- Final Destination 2
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Swordsman II
- Alien & Aliens are equal
- Terminator 2
