As a movie lover, I tend to agree with the typical opinion that sequels will never live up to the original. However, there are some rare occurrences when they are more enjoyable to watch than the first. I’m not saying that the previous ones are bad, just that I’d put these in the DVD player over the original. Here is a list of 12 of those sequels.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
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Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon join forces to track down the infamous Winter Soldier while also running from rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who have a warrant for their arrests.
- Fifty Shades Darker
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After breaking up at the end of the first Fifty Shades film, Ana and Christian reconnect in hopes of trying a more “vanilla” relationship. However, a few exes and a manipulative boss attempt to sabotage them.
- Lethal Weapon 3
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Detectives Riggs and Murtaugh are assigned to an internal affairs case tasked with stopping a black market weapons operation. One of the arms dealers involved is Jack Travis, a dirty cop that worked on the police force years before.
- Shrek 2
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After their fairytale wedding, Shrek travels with Fiona back to her home in Far Far Away to meet her royal parents, who are not too pleased to see their beloved daughter married to an ogre.
- Spider-Man 2
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Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker faces off against Otto Octavius, a.k.a. Doctor Octopus, and faces a moral dilemma when his superhero life starts disrupting his personal life. He’s tempted to hang up his spidey suit for good.
- Spider-Man: Far From Home
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After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker tries to relax on a European vacation with his classmates. However, there is no rest for the superhero when Nick Fury recruits him for a special Avengers-level mission.
- Star Trek Into Darkness
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Earth is left devastated after an attack on Starfleet and one of the Enterprise’s own is murdered. With vengeance on his mind, Captain Kirk leads his team in a hunt for justice against the infamous Khan.
- The Dark Knight
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Batman meets the legendary Joker, who plans to unleash chaos upon Gotham City. By the end of the film, Bruce Wayne learns one of the most important lessons: “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
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After winning the Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta embark on a Victor’s Tour of Panem. However, the two soon find themselves thrown back into the games when President Snow grows fearful of an uprising inspired by the girl on fire.
- The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
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The LEGO people of Bricksburg are invaded by aliens from the Systar System. Main character Emmet Brickowski must travel to unknown territories to rescue his friends who have been captured by Queen Watevera Wa’Nabi.
- Thor: Ragnarok
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Thor reunites with Loki and Bruce Banner in this sequel where he comes face-to-face with an evil half-sister that he never knew he had.
- Toy Story 3
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Andy is all grown up and off to college, but Woody and his friends are dying to be played with after being left on the shelf for so many years. By mistake, they’re sent to Sunnyside Daycare, which seems like the perfect playing paradise. Things are not as they seem when Lotso Bear becomes more of a dictator than a friend.
The thing that all of these films have in common is that I love the ones that came before it, but I was pleasantly surprised after watching the sequels. Whether it was the plotline, character inclusions, writing, or direction the film went in, these sequels have grown on me over the years and I will defend this list to the very end.