Greatest Sequels Ever

Empire Magazine have produced a list of The 50 Greatest Ever Sequels.

Now, Empire have been getting a lot better in recent years but this list is really, really shit. X Men 2 is at number 11, Batman Returns is at number 13 and, most perplexing of all, Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix is at number 15. Hellboy 2 is in there, as is Return of the Jedi. Reh.

It's not a completely worthless list but it does do that classic empire thing of having twenty decent films, twenty films from the 50's/60's/70's/80's that no-one actually likes but are "classics" so they put them in to make it look like they're high brow, (deep breath) and ten films from the last three years so people will believe they're modern enough to counterbalance the high brow choices.

But here's the thing, they used the word "greatest" in their article. This means that they must be talking about sequels that are not just good but GREAT. Ones that improved significantly on the original...

Taken in that spirit then the list is completely fucking worthless but I thought I'd put my money where my mouth is and try and compile a list of great sequels.

The criteria are:

1) It must be a great or, at least, a very good film
2) It must improve significantly on the original


So:

1) The Dark Knight

This is the obvious one. Not only is it one of the best films ever made but it takes a great film (Batman Begins) and improves on literally every aspect of it.

2) Terminator 2/3

Terminator 2 and 3 are both good films and both improved significantly on Terminator 1. Personally, I prefer Terminator 3 but that's because I'm not trapped in the past as many film geeks are, and I think Nick Stahl is a fantastic actor. Even though I can't spell his name.

3) Aliens

This is another fairly obvious one. It's very good and wins out over Alien because Alien is fucking aweful. Sorry, Ridley Scott and film geeks everywhere but it fucking is...

4) The Ring 2

I love The Ring (I'm talking Japanese versions here, obviously) but if I had to watch one or the other, I'd watch Ring 2. Why? It's much, much scarier. The Ring has one moment which is utterly terrifying. The Ring 2 has three. Three beats one.

5) Hot Shots Part Deux

This may be an odd choice but it's a hilarious film and improves significantly on the original... the one liners are better, the plot is more fun and it has Rowan Atkinson in it. And whilst we're on spoofs...

6) Scary Movie 3

I may be pushing my luck a bit by saying Scary Movie 3 is Very Good but I think it is, dammit. It's funny, quite witty and is very short. It's also miraculous in that it's the only Scary Movie film to be even faintly worth watching.


There may be others out there but those are the only ones that spring to mind immediately....