We take a look at those sequels better than the original film
Now the law of ever diminishing returns means that sequels get worse and worse making less and less until they’re economically unviable for the studio to make any further films in the franchise. But there are anomalies to this and here we take a look at sequels better than the original film.
So here are those sequels better than the original film…
Superman II (1980)
A sequel to the 1978 blockbuster that was a dawn of superheroes until iron Man came along in 2008 and really shifted superhero films into the stratosphere. Made at the same time as the first film to cut costs it was director Richard Donner who was sacked after a fallout with the Salkind’s who were producing and Richard Lester (who had helmed many of The Beatles films) was bought in to finish off the films With the first film being essentially the obligatory origin story this second film had Terence Stamp in a career reinventing role as General Zod with actors Sarah Douglas and Jack O’Halloran as his evil sidekicks and the trio are soon joined by Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor. With terrific set pieces, a decent storyline that saw Lois Lane and Clark Kent’s relationship blossoming it was a hit at the box office earning $216m that was a surprisingly smaller total than the first film which had made $300m which, as entertaining as it was, was not as good as the sequel.
Mad Max 2 (1981)
1979 had seen Mel Gibson in a star making role as Mad Max made by George Miller a trained doctor who wanted to make films and was his second feature film after a documentary he had made in 1975. For the fledgling director and actor it bought them immediate attention but it’s the 1981 sequel that took it all to another level. Continuing from the end of the first film in an apocalyptic future Australia, Max (Gibson) now a widower drifts around the wastelands looking for fuel and agrees to help a community take their tanker of fuel across a bandit riddled country. Heavily influenced by Westerns the film is essentially a long, and frankly astonishing stunt filled car chase. Made in a pre-CGI era the stunts were both real and really dangerous and the fact that no one got killed making the film is no small achievement ( although a stunt man did break leg in a motorcycle stunt which remains in the final film). Titled ‘The Road Warrior’ in the US the film did brisk business for the time earning $23m. A third film followed (with Tina Turner) but Miller would effectively remake it on an even bigger scale and a far larger budget with ‘Mad Max Fury Road’. But Mad Max 2 remains one of the greatest action films and greatest sequels ever made.
Terminator 2 : Judgement Day (1991)
Forget Titanic, Forget Avatar because Terminator 2 Judgement Day is likely to remain the film that James Cameron will be most fondly remembered. A sequel to his own film The Terminator in 1984 it became a career defining role for its star Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cameron was on a roll from after directing ‘Aliens’ to huge acclaim, writing the Reagan era defining ‘Rambo Part II’, and being the first to introduce the world to CGI with the ground breaking effects of ‘The Abyss’ that would make his Terminator II possible. His original pitch for the sequel was to have twin terminators but he and co-writer William Wisher spun the idea around to have Arnie as a ’good’ terminator but an old design set against a ‘bad’ terminator with a state of the art shapeshifting design that had audience jaws dropping as the liquid metal robot was seemingly indestructible. The film was a major gamble for both Cameron and Carolco the company who funded it to the tune of $100m , a budget that had never been broken before. It paid off handsomely earning $517m and winning four Oscars for Sound, Sound effects, Make up and of course Visual effects. With Cameron’s eye for spectacle and really special, Special Effects ( that have not dated even thirty years later) it made this was an obvious addition to sequels that were better than the original film
Paddington 2 (2017)
Many might remember the delightful and endearing five minute stop motion animated short films of Paddington from kids TV back in 1976 and there had been various incarnations of the bear from Peru who lived with the Brown family since. But in 2014 an all-star feature film appeared with a CGI bear voiced brilliantly by Ben Whishaw. Directed and co-written by Paul King the film did good business that prompted a sequel that would appear shortly after in 2017. But the master stroke here was the casting of Hugh Grant. It was a bold piece of casting because the halcyon days of starring in Richard Curtis rom-com films were over and his career now saw him in a number of uninspiring flops . But a lead role in 2016’s ‘Florence Jenkins Foster’ opposite Meryl Streep was a reminder that he was an excellent comic performer and Paddington 2 endorsed it further. Playing an egotistical actor Phoenix Buchanan it was perhaps a knowing send up of himself but his performance stole the film in spectacular fashion with Grant ending the film with a fabulous song and dance routine. It was a reminder that he is and always was, an excellent actor who excelled at comedy but equally adept in far darker roles as was later seen in 2024’s ‘Heretic’
….and those are just some sequels better than the original film! Let is know yours.
related feature : The rise and fall of Arnold Schwarzenegger ……
related feature : ‘Terminator Dark Fate’ – the actual model used in the film
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