Sometimes the sequels are better.....at least in MY opinion.

Most of the time, you cannot touch the original.  A film comes out, captures the imagination and interest of millions, makes millions of dollars and no matter how hard they try film makers are unable to capture the allurement that the first film had through a multitude of sequels.    Every once in a while though, a sequel will come along that not only does it's predecessor justice, but simply outdoes it.   These are of course my opinion and in some cases my opinion only, but let's take a look at sequels I feel are better than the original.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Might as well start with one that most people agree with huh?  1984's "Terminator" was a fantastic film, full of action and suspense.  The idea that a sequel could compare, let alone do better seven years later in 1991 was preposterous.   Yet when the sequel hit theaters, fans all over the world were calling it, "better than the original" because it was.   It had all of the action and the suspense that the original had, plus more.   Technology and knowledge allowed for greater stunts and more realistic action scenes.  Schwarzenegger's acting had immensely improved and the storyline had introduced a new idea, that to my knowledge had never been done before.  The main antagonist of the first film, is now the main protagonist of the second film.  Talk about a million dollar idea, literally.  Fans, including myself ate it up.   12 years later, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" would make its debut and like "Terminator" it too is a very good film.  Yet also like, "Terminator" it pails in comparison to what many affectionately refer to today as simply "T2".  

Army of Darkness

Honestly I don't even like "The Evil Dead" at all and I think the "The Evil Dead 2" is tolerable at best.   I'm just not a fan of either movie, but for some odd reason I like the third installment of series, "Army of Darkness."    It's just as ridiculous as the first two films, but it is a fun and compelling ridiculous.   The character of Ash Williams is more interesting and intriguing than he was in the two previous films and the storyline, while simple, is much more entertaining.  I think the first two films tried to take themselves too seriously and I appreciated the film looking back on itself in a humorous manner.  This doesn't always work, as I enjoy "Child's Play" a Hell of a lot more than I do, "Seed of Chucky" but in this particular case, it works.

Beverly Hills Cop 2

"Beverly Hills Cop" was a pretty damn good movie in itself and you'll never hear me say anything different, but "Beverly Hills Cop 2" not only captured the charm and charisma of the original, it plain upped the ante.   I was hoping for another great sequel in "Beverly Hills Cop 3" but the film all but sucked.  Eddie Murphy seemed disinterested and his character seemed to be written by someone who hadn't watched or paid attention to the two previous films.  Whereas Axel Foley was a cool, collected, intelligent, smartass individual in the first two films, he was out of control and absent minded in the third film.   Rumor has it that a fourth film may be coming out in the future. If so I hope it reflects the first film, I wish that it'll be as good as the second and I pray that it won't be anything like the third.

Ghostbuster II

I'm liable to get shot for this one, but I honestly enjoy "Ghostbusters II" more than I do the original "Ghostbusters".     It's funny to me to hear Bill Murray as well as others say that they don't feel that the sequel was as much about them as the first one was.  I feel that it is more about them than the original.  Perhaps Murray means them as a collaborative, because as individuals, I think part II gives them much more attention.    I found Lord Vigo to be a more interesting character than Gozer, I enjoyed getting to know Louis and Janine better and Peter McNeil's Janosz was a lot of fun.

Halloween II

John Carpenter's "Halloween" is a master piece and in my opinion one of the best horror films ever made.   To be perfectly honest, I don't even think of "Halloween" and "Halloween II" as two separate movies.   I always watch them back to back and look at them as one entity.   Considering that there is three years between the two films, technically I shouldn't do that.   When taking the time to think out why I love "Halloween" as much as I do, I realize it is because its sequel "Halloween II" does such a great job of complimenting it, tying up loose ends and linking all of the films together.  It is what every sequel ought to be. 

Superman II

"Superman: the Movie" is a fantastic film, with tons of great things to say about it but it has a lot of not so great things about it as well.   It's too long in some parts, suffers from corny writing in others, needs serious revision and editing that it never got and needed to have as Stephen King would say, "more of its darlings killed."   "Superman II" learned from the mistakes of "Superman: the Movie" and thus gave us all of the greatness of the original, without any of the non-great parts.   I also really like "Superman III" although I'll admit, it doesn't even come close to "Superman II".     "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace" was pretty bad, even though it wanted to be good. 

Scream 4

I love all the "Scream" movies but the fourth, ironic as it is, is by far the best of the series.   "Scream" was fun and thrilling, but it was also predictable.  "Scream 2" was even more fun than the original and much more clever.  "Scream 3" was too unrealistic and the characters seem disenfranchised. When it was announced that a fourth sequel was coming out, my initial thoughts were,  "please at least be better than part 3".   Not only was it better than part 3, it was better than all of them.   A clever storyline, a non-predictable yet believable twist and still fun and thrilling with fresh ideas, yet keeping continuity and REMEMBERING that it is a sequel.  Extremely well made film.

Toy Story 3

"Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" were both great, but the third was just impeccable.  I really enjoyed it a lot.

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

I enjoyed "An American Tail" quite a bit as a kid, but I enjoyed its sequel "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West" much more.   It's hard to pinpoint exactly why, but I think it's because the sequel is much more character driven than the original.   It's also not as depressing of a film, and a lot more seems to happen at a faster pace, than the slower paced original.   In comparison to critics and audiences, I'm very much alone in this as the film was not anywhere near the success of the first film and critics panned it as bland compared to the first film.   Two more, easily forgettable sequels would follow after this film, but no one knew about them when they came out and no one knows about them now.