Sequels that were better than the original

Can anyone name a movie sequel that was better than its predecessor?

Recently I’ve decided to boycott all movie sequels because Too often they recycle the same exact material from the first movie. And it’s predictable and boring. And once the movie is over, I feel like I watched a watered down version of the movie I liked before, and regretted wasting my time on it.

I think that Terminator 2, Lethal weapon 2, Austin Powers the Spy who Shagged me, were better than the originals. But those are all that come to mind at the moment.

What else is there?

 

i think godfather 2 is supposed to be the best of the series. but i haven't seen those movies so i'm not sure.

 

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
The Dark Knight

Silence of the Lambs - could be considered a sequel.

 

The Evil Dead II was better than the original

 

The Conjuring 2
Sinister 2
Annabelle 2

 

Return of the Living Dead 1985


Was way better than.....
Night of the Living Dead 1968

 

Technically “Day of the Dead (1985) was George A Romero’s sequel to Night of the Living Dead which btw came out the same year as Return of the Living Dead.

George A Romero was even asked to direct Return of the Living Dead but since he was working on his own project at the time the directorship was handed over to Dan O’Bannon

..

 

terminator 2
mad max 2 the road warrior
the dark knight if we consider batman begins the first film
spider-man 2
lethal weapon 2
and friday the 13th 2, the first one to be lead by jason voorhees himself

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The original Friday the 13th was much better than Part II

In Part II Jason was just wearing a burlap sack (which made him look ridiculous) not the iconic hockey mask

 

then i confused with part 3!

 

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

 

In the very beginning scenes of Return of the Living Dead situations pertaining to Night of the Living Dead were mentioned.

That's how I figured that Return was the sequel to Night.

Thank you hw for the clarification.
I love our super-twin-power movie knowledge we've built up over the years.

 

Because I've seen it so many times, Episode 5. But it isn't that I don't like New Hope. I dig Ben Kenobi's light saber duel with Darth Vader. LUKE! Use the force...

 

Terminator 2 has always been the prime example for me too... that it is possible! yet rare indeed

Evil dead 2 is another clear example as well, yups.

Can't say if Star wars 5 is better than 4, but I agree it's close Same with Home Alone: 2 was and still is just as fun as the first.

 

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan was way better than Star Trek The Motion Picture.

 

I need to see those again to give a proper verdict! Esp the first one. But... I think you're right.

 

Goldfinger

 

I would also like to add something. Technically the Marvel Universe movies are “sequels” but they were planned to be an ongoing saga.

It seems that movies that were planned out as a saga, the sequels are often better than the prequels, but not always.

Winter Soldier was better than the first Captain America. X-men Days of Future Past was better than X-men Origins. This is because they were planned this way. Whereas it seems that most sequels were made ONLY because the first movie was so successful. This is where sequels begin to suck

 

The advantage Trilogies and Sagas have is that the first movies can leave questions unanswered and there is a greater opportunity for foreshadowing and transformation of the characters.

A quality movie that's intended to stand on it's own usually addresses the full scope of conflict and resolution within the movie and the character arc is complete. So I think the characters and even plots tend to become more 'static' or one-dimensional in these types of sequels.

 

the way i remember it, the two main guys involved in making the original night both wanted to make sequels but disagreed on what direction to take them. so romero went one direction and the other guy did the return series. so in that way, they're like alternate timeline sequels.

but, i could be remembering this wrong, and i'm not concerned enough to google it.