Here is my list of sequels that are better than the original, in no particular order. For the sake of the list, only one sequel per main franchise.
Avengers: Endgame
Credit Marvel Studios
Endgame has everything, high stakes, a huge cast, a strong plot and it was bold. Avengers: Endgame is currently the longest Marvel movie clocking in a little over three hours. It is both the biggest and most intimate Marvel movie yet. For the purpose of this list, Avengers: Endgame counts for the Avengers movies. Other sequels that make the list would be for their respective franchise.
X2: X-Men United
Credit Twentieth Century Fox
X-Men 2 is still one of the best sequels of the X-Men franchise. It is action packed and has a great ensemble.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Credit Universal Pictures/Dreamworks Animation
Out of the Puss in Boots movies, The Last Wish far exceeds Puss in Boots. Is a great movie with a great story and it is hilarious.
Shrek 2
Credit Dreamworks Animation
Out of the Shrek films, Shrek 2 still ranks as the best. Shrek 2 also gave us Puss in Boots who has become a fan favorite character.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Credit Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures
Easily the best MCU Spider-Man movie, it tops both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home and it successfully unites Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s respective Spider-Man movies.
The Dark Knight Rises
Credit Warner Brothers
Christopher Nolan has the best Batman trilogy yet. We have to wait and see how Matt Reeves does with the next two Batman movies. For me The Dark Knight Rises is the best out of the trilogy. It is bigger, longer, and a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Credit New Line Cinema
Epic. Emotional. A satisfying conclusion to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It deserves every Oscar it won back in 2004. It won all eleven categories it was nominated for.
I had a conversation a few weeks ago and it was mentioned that when it comes to sequels, the original is always better. The comment was made in referring to Hocus Pocus 2 and how it was a letdown compared to the original. I have not yet seen Hocus Pocus 2. It is on my very long to watch list. It got me thinking how true is this statement? This is not the first time I have heard this. I have seen reviews and comments on social media saying similar things when referring to any new movie in a respective franchise or a film that got a sequel. Currently there have not been any concrete plans for a Hocus Pocus 3. At this point it only stands as two films. We will see if there will be another one.
Is the original always the superior one? No, not always. It will always come down to taste. Some sequels are not as good as the original. Sometimes the sequels are better than the original. Sometimes the original was not that great to begin with and the sequel or sequels were far superior. I cannot comment specifically on Hocus Pocus 2 since I did not see it. There are plenty of others to look at.
There are two big components when it comes to this question. Studios tend to look at the financials of a project. If the sequel makes less than the predecessor, it is considered a failure or a disappointment. There is the audience reception. A sequel could be a smash hit financially but hated by the audience therefore making the sequel a disappointment. Sometimes they both go hand and hand where the sequel bombs and is hated by the audience. The same can be said for the opposite. A sequel could be loved by the audience and a smash hit.
This may be a bit divisive, but I was not the biggest fan of The Matrix. It was a smash hit and is beloved by the fans. I only saw the Matrix because I wanted to see The Matrix Reloaded. I watched the first movie before seeing the second one in theaters. I liked The Matrix Reloaded better than The Matrix. At the time I found The Matrix boring. I liked the second one and the third one better. Yes, I also liked The Matrix Revolutions. I have yet to see The Matrix Resurrections. I just found the second and third one better. I felt the same way about Charlie’s Angels. I saw the first movie because I wanted to see Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle in theaters. I did not like Charlie’s Angels, but I liked the second one. In those cases, I found the sequel better than the original. Mamma Mia! was a smash hit and ten years later got a sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Was a sequel necessary? Probably not. Was it a good movie? I enjoyed it. I thought it was fun. It was just as fun as the original. Was it better than the original? I would say they are equal, but I would not say it was better than the original.
I would say Iron Man 3 is the best out of the Iron Man films. I know there will be plenty who don’t agree on that. I liked Iron Man 3 because it was different than other two. Pretty much the reasons I liked Iron Man 3 are the same reasons why a lot of people did not like Iron Man 3. I would say Thor: The Dark World was not better than Thor. I would say Thor: Ragnarok is the best out of the Thor films including Love and Thunder. Captain America: The Winter Soldier surpassed the first Captain America. Out of the three Captain America films, I feel Civil War is the best but it only inches The Winter Soldier out by an inch.
Animation is a genre that a lot feel sequels do not match the originals. Cars 2 was not better than Cars. However, Cars 3 was better than Cars 2. This is really the only franchise that falls in this category. Pixar’s franchises have typically exceeded the predecessors. Toy Story got better with each subsequent film. The same goes for Finding Dory and The Incredibles 2. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is better than the original. I enjoyed the first Puss in Boots movie, but it was not some amazing film. I had low expectations before seeing The Last Wish and I was blown away by how great the film was. It also made me realize what was lacking in the first Puss in Boots movie. Out of the Shrek films, I would say Shrek 2 is probably the best one out of the core franchise. Despicable Me 2 is better than the first one but Despicable Me 3 falls short of both. This can go on and on.
To answer the question, are the originals always the best one? No. It varies. Some sequels are better, and others are not. It all comes down to taste. Even the great franchises can have a weaker entry. I love Marvel but at this point there are some films that would rank lower than others in the franchise. The difference is even the films that aren’t that great are usually pretty okay when it comes to Marvel. Some films are just inferior to their predecessors. The Hobbit trilogy is inferior to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was truly an epic whereas The Hobbit trilogy lost some if its heart that the original had. Also, the Hobbit trilogy was a bit unnecessary since they stretched out one book into three films. X-Men 2 is one of the greatest sequels ever made. I still stand by that today. X-Men 3 was a huge disappointment. The film itself is not terrible but it was not wonderful either. The films after that became hit and miss. Sequels like films in general are hit and miss. A lot either miss the mark entirely or are just okay and others hit the target which is always a nice surprise.
I was really looking forward to Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania. I am a huge Marvel fan and have enjoyed every movie and show. Of course, I have my favorites, and some were better than others, but I am a fan. All week long I have written a lot of posts about Marvel in honor of Quantumania opening this week. I am going to try to stay as spoiler free as possible for this review. The film stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathon Majors, Kathryn Newton, Cory Stoll, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer & Michael Douglas.
The basic plot of the movie is that Cassie Lang builds a device that can send a signal down to the Quantum realm so they can retrieve the information and study it without having to go there. Something happens and Cassie along with Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne get sent to the Quantum realm. While there they meet Kang the Conqueror who needs them in order to set him free.
After waiting for this movie, I have finally gotten to see it and I can say that I enjoyed it. Out of the Ant-Man movies, I would say this is the best. Out of MCU movies, this ranks high up. The movie is predominantly set in the Quantum realm. It is visually stunning. I saw it in IMAX, and I would highly recommend seeing it in IMAX. It is worth it. We do get to learn a lot more about the Quantum realm and we get to learn about Kang.
Jonathon Majors is amazing as Kang the Conqueror. I think Marvel made a great choice casting Jonathon Majors. Kang is drastically different than He Who Remains who Jonathon Majors played in the season finale of Loki. Kang is quite the foe, and the stakes were high. Clearly from this, Kang is going to be a threat unlike anything the Avengers have faced before. I am excited to see more of Kang throughout Phase 5 and 6. I will say the climax is epic. Without spoiling anything, just like in all Marvel movies as well as any action movie to begin with there is always one final showdown between the protagonist and the antagonist. This was no different and the fight was stunning. There was an intensity in the fight between Ant-Man and Kang. It felt a little different than when the Avengers went up against Thanos. Kang, on his own is very powerful. Thanos was powerful but became a major threat once he achieved all the infinity stones. Kang had a few a moments in this where he really let loose. That was also hinted in the trailers. This did not disappoint.
The rest of the cast is great as always. It was cool to see Scott and Hope and Hope’s parents as well as Cassie become a family. They have really grown closer over time. Family was a big theme of the movie as it has been for the Ant-Man franchise. Quantum mania answered more about Janet’s time there. We got to see a lot more Janet in this one. Janet had some truly badass moments which I was happy to see. I love Michelle Pfeiffer and she truly got to shine in this.
The movie does heavily set up what’s to come in Phase 5 and 6. I won’t spoil the credit scenes but there are two credit scenes. They both help set up the future. I will say there is stuff that is not answered in this movie. I think some of those answers will come down the line. The movie definitely has higher stakes than the previous two Ant-Man movies. It is emotional and at times could get nerve racking. There were times when I was worried if a character would make it out alive. With that being said, the film still has its comedy which the Ant-Man films have done well. I think Quantum mania did a really good job at balancing both tones.
Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania kicks off Phase 5 and it is quite the launch. Quantumania has kicked things into high gear, and I cannot wait to see what happens next. Marvel already stated there are ideas for an Ant-Man 4. I am looking froward to seeing what that will look like. The movie is a fun thrill ride, visually stunning, emotional, and funny. The movie will leave you wanting more.
I saw He’s Just Not That Into You years ago. When I initially saw it, I did not enjoy it. It came out in 2009 and was a smash hit. The movie stars Ben Affleck, Jennifer Anniston, Ginnifer Goodwin, Justin Long, Bradley Cooper, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Drew Barrymore, and Kris Kristofferson.
Years later I decided to give the movie another try. I thought the movie was better then the last time around. I believe I know why I didn’t like it the first time around. While watching it I realized that it’s a romantic comedy but I did not laugh much. I paid attention throughout the movie, and I was into the storylines and the relationships. I think when I saw this movie the first time around one reason why I did not like it was because I did not laugh much if at all when seeing it. I think at the time, given it is a comedy that I figured since I did not laugh meant that the movie was not enjoyable. Most people see horror movies in the hopes of getting scared. I have enjoyed some horror movies without getting scared. The lack of not getting scared did not ruin the enjoyment of the film for me. I think the same thing can be said about comedy as well as any genre. I think I was slightly too harsh on this movie the first time around. I was also in high school when I saw it.
I liked the movie better the second time around. I just did not find it that funny. I was invested in the storylines. The movie has a great cast which they all did a good job. The experience was different also due to the fact that I did see this once before. I did remember a fair amount of the movie. Even so, I was still invested in the story.
He’s Just Not That Into You is a good ensemble romantic comedy. It has a solid cast that really makes the movie.
The Notebook was released in 2004 and did very well. It wound up with about 81 million domestically and 117 million worldwide. The film is based off the book by Nicholas Sparks and is about a poor young guy who falls for a wealthy young woman. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands, James Marsden, Sam Shepard, and Joan Allen.
The Notebook came out when I was fourteen years old. It’s a movie I have heard a lot about over the years. A lot of people love this movie and it has been referenced in a lot of television shows and movies. I will be honest, I did not have an interest in seeing it when it came out. All these years later, I finally saw it and I once again did not feel anything. I will say that the cast does a good job in their roles. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams have good chemistry. James Garner and Gena Rowlands also have good chemistry. They had good stories. I am not sure why I am having a hard time with the romance movies lately. Several of the movies I have watched over these few days have not warranted any type of emotion.
The Notebook I feel indifferent with. It is hard to explain. I was hoping that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams would wind up together in the end, but I did not feel strongly about it. I did not feel anything while watching Dear John, another Nicholas Sparks movie. I am starting to wonder if I am bit too old for these movies. I liked The Last Song and The Lucky One. I saw those movies years ago. I wonder if I saw those movies now if my opinion would be the same. Maybe I would have felt differently if I saw The Notebook when it came out or even a few years afterward.
I know The Notebook is considered one of the best romance movies of all time but I just did not feel anything toward it. I thought it had a good story. I did not feel any emotion, even when things worked out for the characters. The cast did a good job, and I am a fan of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.
It’s Complicated was released in 2009 and was a hit making around 112 million domestically and 219 million worldwide. The film is about Jane whose life gets turned upside down once she and her ex-husband Jack spend the night together while attending their son’s college graduation. Afterward it leads to an affair and Jane becomes the other woman since Jack is currently married to the woman he cheated on Jane with. The film stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, Lake Bell, John Krasinski, Hunter Parrish, Zoe Kazan, and Caitlin FitzGerald.
It’s Complicated is interesting. I thought there were parts of the movie that were funny. The movie has a good cast. Meryl Streep as always did a great job. I was invested in the movie. I cannot really say if I enjoyed the movie or not. I found Jane and Jack annoying to be perfectly honest. I have seen different movies with Meryl Streep. She is a great character actress. There were a lot of times I wished Jane had more of a backbone when it came to Jack. Jack got on my nerves a fair amount of the time. I felt he was selfish and did not care about Jane’s feelings and only cared about what he wanted.
I also was not clear on the plot until I watched the movie. I was not aware that the premise of the movie was about them having an affair. This came out a little over thirteen years ago. I remember when it came out. It probably mentioned it in the commercials at the time. The fact they were having an affair got on my nerves a bit. I can’t really explain why. I think it had to do a lot with the fact that I felt Jane did not stand up for herself throughout it to put a stop to it. She was a willing participant which that in itself kind of bothered me especially since Jack cheated on her.
I thought Steve Martin did a good job as Adam who is Jane’s architect and develops feelings for her. Without spoiling too much, there is a bit of a love triangle between Jane, Jack, and Adam. I was routing for Adam the whole time. I felt he and Jane were a better match. Adam seemed to be a considerate person and did not seem self-centered.
I liked the ending. I won’t give it away, but the film goes a different route than a lot of romantic comedies. It was nice that it did not do what audiences were expecting. The actors did a good job at making me feel this way about the characters.
It’s Complicated is the best way to describe my feelings for the movie. I did not love it, but I did not hate it and I did feel something while watching the movie. This is a step up since a handful of other movies the past few days, I did not feel anything while watching them. Maybe in time I will have more of a concrete answer on how I felt about the movie.
How Do You Know was released in 2010. It is about a softball player named Lisa who gets cut from the team and finds herself in a love triangle with her baseball player boyfriend Matty and corporate guy George. The film stars Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson, and Kathryn Hahn.
I thought How Do You Know was a nice movie. The cast does a good job especially Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd. They have good chemistry. How Do You Know took a bit of a different approach than other romantic comedies. A good portion of the film focused on Lisa played by Reese Witherspoon and George played by Paul Rudd separately. Jack Nicholson plays Charles who is George’s father. There were some good scenes between George and Charles. Owen Wilson plays Matty, Lisa’s boyfriend. Matty has a fair amount of screen time. Sometimes in these types of movies one character in a love triangle is not in the movie as much as the other.
How Do You Know had some funny moments as well. It is a pleasant movie. The cast is the main reason for that, particularly Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd. George was somebody I could route for and I was routing for George and Lisa. Paul Rudd made George very likeable. It seems he has a knack for doing that. Lisa has some similarities to Elle Woods who Reese Witherspoon played in the Legally Blonde movies. There was some character growth in the movie which was a nice bonus. Reese Witherspoon and Paul were the key ingredients to making the movie pleasant.
Dear John was released in 2010. It’s based off the book by Nicholas Sparks. The film is about a soldier who meets a woman while home and they begin a relationship. The film stars Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas, and Scott Porter.
I had trouble feeling anything with Dear John. Lately these romance movies have been hit or miss with three out of four I have recently seen having the same results. I have seen a few movies based off Nicholas Sparks’ novels. I saw The Last Song and The Lucky One and liked those movies. I have not yet seen The Notebook. I was bored throughout a fair amount of Dear John. I’m not sure why. I thought Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried were a bit bland. They are both good actors. I had trouble getting invested in their love story. Channing Tatum seemed a bit wooden which I think was supposed to be deliberate. Channing Tatum plays John Tyree and I think John was supposed to have a hard exterior. It was a bit difficult to get invested in the character. Amanda Seyfried plays Savannah Curtis. I thought Ananda Seyfried was a bit wooden also. Savannah was a little more open than John. I am not sure why I feel this way. I do feel bad because I like both actors. I have seen Amanda Seyfried in several movies including Mean Girls, both Mamma Mia movies, and Red Riding Hood.
Dear John had some moments. Unfortunately, that was not enough to change my feelings on the movie. The moments were few and far between. I don’t want to get into specifics because I don’t want to spoil anything. I will say that later in the film there are two different health issues that take place. I was mildly invested in them. I did not feel much with the outcomes of these situations. For a romantic drama, the movie kind of lacked drama. That is where I think the film fell flat for me. I also feel the movie focused too much on John to be perfectly honest. Since I was not that invested in John to begin with, that would explain why the movie did not do much for me. When it comes down to it, I found John kind of annoying. I do like Channing Tatum, and I have enjoyed other things he has been in. The character was a bit difficult to like therefor bringing down a lot of the movie for me.
First Daughter was released in 2004. The movie is about Samantha McKenzie who is the daughter of the President of the United States and heads off to college where she falls for her RA who has a secret. The film stars Katie Holmes, Marc Blucas, Amerie, Margaret Colin, and Michael Keaton.
I enjoyed First Daughter. It was a modern fairytale. By the time First Daughter was released, Chasing Liberty had come out earlier that year. Chasing Liberty had a similar premise with Mandy Moore starring as the First Daughter and Mark Harmon as the President of the United States. Also The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and A Cinderella Story came out before this film as well. Two more modern fairytales and First Daughter has some similarities to A Cinderella Story. The ending itself was similar to how A Cinderella Story ended. I am more referring to the scene itself. The narration for the movie was something that was used in A Cinderella Story as well.
First Daughter has a good cast. This came out a little over a year after Dawson’s Creek had ended. That show was Katie Holmes’ breakout role where she played Joey Potter. Katie Holmes plays Samantha Mackenzie. Michael Keaton is the President. Michael Keaton does a good job as the President and he has good chemistry with Katie Holmes. They had a good father daughter dynamic. Halfway through the film there is a twist that caught me off guard. Once the twist happened, I was more invested in what was going to happen to Samantha and James played by Marc Blucas, who is the guy she has fallen for.
First Daughter is a fun romance movie. The twist helped make it a little less predictable. The fairytale aspect worked well for the film.
Fever Pitch was released in 2005. It is about a diehard Red Sox Fan who meets a woman and falls in love but then becomes torn between his love for her and his love for the Red Sox. The film stars Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon.
Fever Pitch was okay. There were maybe two or three funny moments. I don’t remember. I am not trying to be mean and I do like romantic comedies. It seems lately the ones I have seen are not that great. They area not awful but they are not special or fun. It is possible that the batch of movies I am currently watching just are not that great.
I found Fever Pitch kind of boring. Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon are fine in their roles. Drew Barrymore plays Lindsey and Jimmy Fallon plays Ben. I found Ben annoying. Fever Pitch is another movie where I did not feel anything during it. However, toward the end of the movie I was rooting a little bit for Ben and Lindsey. I also did not find the movie that funny. Earlier I said there were maybe two or three funny moments. The moments did not come until much later in the movie which is why I know it was only a few but also why I don’t remember the specific number. The movie is an appropriate length clocking in at 103 minutes. If the movie were any longer, it would be a different story.
I will be honest. I don’t like sports. Sports is not my thing at all. That does not play a factor in my enjoyment of Fever Pitch or Just Wright which focused on a basketball player. I am only bringing up Just Wright because it was a recent review, I did. I also did not feel anything with that one either. One Tree Hill is one of my favorite shows and basketball was a big part of that show. I enjoyed the basketball parts of the series just as much as the other parts. I feel the same way about All American where football is a huge part of that show. Earlier today, I wrote a review about the movie 80 For Brady which focused on the Superbowl. I enjoyed that movie. Fever Pitch just is not that great. Its okay. It is nothing special.
From my understanding Fever Pitch was Jimmy Fallon’s last movie as a lead before he went on to do other things namely The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. When Jimmy Fallon has appeared in movies or television its usually as himself and its usually when a character is either watching The Tonight Show or is a guest on The Tonight Show. I hope to see Jimmy Fallon in more acting roles down the line. He is a funny guy. His character Ben was just annoying. I think that is partly what made the film lackluster. I found Ben annoying a lot of the time. I did not find him that likeable throughout a duration of the movie. There were sporadic moments when he was not that irritating. I think that is also why I was not that invested in Ben and Lindsey as a couple. Fever Pitch was just boring, and it was not a love story I could get behind.
