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You loved the movie and you want more.
The studio loves money, and they want more too.
Its easy to feel cynical about sequels, since they often seem like cash-grab retreads of their inspiration.
Theres an art to making a genuinely good sequel.
For the purposes of this list, weve defined a sequel as any follow-up installment to an existing property.
(In that sense,movie sequels to TV seriescounted.)
But more often than not, we rewarded pure pleasure.
They remind us thatmore is morecan indeed be a righteous course.
To see where the most recent addition,Top Gun: Maverick,falls on the ranking, jumpahead.
1on the list.)
102.Happy Feet Two(George Miller, 2011)
102.
(Good-bye, krill world.)
The celebrity casting is dizzying.
The soundtrack is built almost entirely off pop-music covers.
(Hank Azaria does Dragostea Din Tei!)
For all that and more,Happy Feet Twowas punished.
Like a flightless bird, it infamously flopped at the box office.
When the film works, though, it really sings.
The crass jokes snuck in between touching father-son bonding moments hit all the right notes.
The animation specifically the vast, empty Antarctic backdrops are worth the many, many pennies spent and lost.
You have to wonder: Would Miller have been so energized to makeFury RoadhadHappy Feet Twonot flopped?
Lets not think about it too much.Eric Vilas-Boas
101.Devils Rejects (Rob Zombie, 2005)
101.
Undeterred, Zombie doubled down for this sequel, which resumes the exploits of the kill-happy Firefly family.
Here We Go Again(Ol Parker, 2018)
100.
This is becauseMM!HWGAis about nothing less than the Technicolor insanity of life itself.
It crams the plot, character count, and themes of at least 12 films into one.
It is about being slutty in Europe.
It is about death.
It is about time travel.
It is about Cher.
It is about the Mother Wound and healing intergenerational trauma.
It is about aging; it is about making fertility decisions.
It is about having good beach hair.
It is about the challenges of balancing entrepreneurship and long-distance relationships.
It is about shawls.
It is about friendship over decades.
It is about how it is inherently funny to see old men in glittery spandex.
It is about forgiveness and horses.
It is about unpredictable weather patterns in the Mediterranean.
It is about temporarily shaking off the dark, powerful specter of Lars von Triers filmography.
A little over halfway through the Wachowski sisters follow-up to their game-changingThe Matrixis a freeway chase of glorious sensibilities.
Cars flip like gymnasts and crack apart as if made of glass.
The thumping score by Don Davis brings us to the apotheosis of cinematic rapture.
The film can get messy, enamored with its philosophy.
you’re free to see that this one was a quickie.
But its loads of fun in its own right.
And not unlike the first film,The Vampires Coffinis enormously creative in its use of low-budget effects.
Watching these movies, you realize that an effect need not look realistic to send shivers up your spine.
Their vaudevillian slapstick translated well into the heightened worlds of horror the nonsensical nature of both complementing each other.
Here, they werent acting against Chaney or Karloff but rather their studio stunt double Eddie Parker.
Not to mention the Orientalism of it all.
DidThe Souvenirreally need a follow-up?
Joanna Hoggs art-house memory piece ended pretty definitively with the death of one half of its central couple.
Theres a reason they didnt make a sequel toTitanic, you know?
94.How to Train Your Dragon 2(Dean DeBlois, 2014)
94.
92.Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams(Robert Rodriguez, 2002)
92.
(Babe: Pig in the Cityis another fine example of hyperfakecore.)
Pigtails that spin like helicopters.
A top-secret tree house with Danny Trejo in it.
Two dads fighting as the kids yell, Kick him in the butt!
so the dads literally kick each other in the butt.
A presidential banquet where all the food is buttered noodles.
91.Bride of Chucky(Don Mancini, 1998)
91.
No longer playing it straight, Don MancinisBride of Chuckyis meta and silly.
What would Martha Stewart say?
90.A Goofy Movie(Kevin Lima, 1995)
90.
The voice work is gorgeous and elastic.
The animation is lived in and textured, making me miss the days of hand-drawn work.
AndA Goofy Movieis Black cinema.
(Among others, in the vocal stylings of Tevin Campbell as Powerline.)
89.Saw III(Darren Lynn Bousman, 2006)
89.
How many sequels begin with the inevitable death of its main villain?
Through frenetic flashbacks it builds out backstories to Jigsaw and other characters, and features head-spinning twists.
Its distorted sound design still haunts my spine.)
But most importantly, the installment builds on the ideas of moral absolutism introduced by its predecessors.
Jigsaw is a heinous murderer, but he lives and plays by a certain set of rules.
Toxic grief, on the other hand, consumes Amanda and Jeff to the point of bending their morals.
If theStep Upfranchise had only given us Channing Tatum, that in itself would have been a solid achievement.
(Theres also a narratively important pair of limited-edition Nikes because consumerism, baby!)
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86.Predator 2(Jim and John Thomas, 1990)
86.
Same predator, different jungle.
Malcolm D. LeesThe Best Man Holidaydoesnt exactly pick up where his 1999 rom-comThe Best Manleft off.
Here, masculinity is vulnerable; the camaraderie of women is raw and open.
Faith-based reflections guide each scene in a movie not afraid to be religious.
84.The Raid 2(Gareth Evans, 2014)
84.
Watching him pull it off a second time feels like a magic trick.
A.S.
83.The Testament of Dr. Mabuse(Fritz Lang, 1933)
83.
When the Luxembourger author Norbert Jacques introduced the character Dr. Mabuse in his 1921 novelDr.
Or that the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda banned the film?
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82.28 Weeks Later(Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 2007)
82.
81.Macross Plus(Shoji Kawamori, Shinichiro Watanabe; 1995)
81.
Macross PlusisntRobotech, but American audiences may recognize its jet-fighter designs as such.
(Nearly 30 years later, Sharonstill looks uncannythanks toAkiraanimator Koji Morimoto.)
Despite wearing them,Macross Plusdoesnt lean on the throttle of its franchise trappings.
80.Funeral in Berlin(Guy Hamilton, 1966)
80.
Imagine a spectrum of fictional spycraft with James Bond on one end and John le Carre on the other.
The first Palmer movie, 1965sThe Ipcress File, was a purely domestic affair.
Thats partly because it veers away somewhat from the template established by the late 1960sPeanutstelevision specials.
So why did we opt for 21st film in the franchise for our lone 007 entry?
The point: to show how 007 became 007.
This love, between Craig and Eva Greens Vesper Lynd, felt intimate and carnal.
None had done it in a way that felt as fallible, or as human, asCasino Royaledid.
A.S.
77.Election 2/Triad Election(Johnnie To, 2006)
77.
76.Wes Cravens New Nightmare(Wes Craven, 1994)
76.
When I was nine years old, no movie terrorized my waking hours likeWes Cravens New Nightmare.
The plot seems designed to short-circuit the usual parental reassurances:Dont be scared.
I was never able to listen to Losing My Religion, which soundtracks the moviesopening kill, ever again.
It felt spiritually true.
74.The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift(Justin Lin, 2006)
74.
Are therebetter moviesin theFast & Furiousseries?
73.Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island(Hiroshi Inagaki, 1956)
73.
The real Musashi was never quite as heroic as Inagaki made him out to be in his films.
72.Paddington 2(Paul King, 2017)
72.
Every family movie should aim to be this gorgeous.
71.War for the Planet of the Apes(Matt Reeves, 2017)
71.
The reboot franchise accomplishes this through heavy serialization and politicization.
Woody Harrelsons murderous Colonel willstop at nothingin his fight for human dominance.
70.Jackass Number Two(Jeff Tremaine, 2006)
70.
Knoxville and the gang make like a family of Wile E. Coyotes.
Each new set piece brings a new can-you-top-this spectacle.
69.Shafts Big Score!
(Gordon Parks, 1972)
69.
Gordon ParkssShafthelped launch the blaxploitation genre and remains a classic to this day.
68.A Better Tomorrow II(John Woo, 1987)
68.
67.O Lucky Man!
(Lindsay Anderson, 1973)
67.
In terms of scope and ambition,O Lucky Man!isGodfather IIto Lindsay Andersons 1968If …. Its splashes of style like that from director Freddie Francis that make this entry in the franchise so alluring.
But it pales in comparison toJohn Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum a 130-minute cascade of What?
for the films even longer takes, more complicated sequences, and wilder bravura moments from Reevess very-much-back assassin.
Keep her safe at all costs.R.
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64.Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight(Ernest R. Dickerson, 1995)
64.
How the hell did this stand-alone film make the list?
And the film deserves to be here.
Hes gloriously arch, hot as hell.
His line readings are delectable and dangerouslike chocolate cake dolloped with poison.A.J.B.
63.Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom(Steven Spielberg, 1984)
63.
62.The Lost World: Jurassic Park(Steven Spielberg, 1997)
62.
The wonder ofJurassic Parkwas inwatching dinosaurs again walk the earthin a terrifyingly realistic way.
No, theres not a lot of subtext to that.
But who needs that when you get to see a big olT.
rexstomping its way through the streets of San Diego?
A.S.
61.Final Destination 2(David R. Ellis, 2003)
61.
(He was, after all, a stunt coordinator and second-unit director.)
Theyre not all just jerky teens, in other words.
This, in turn, adds an extra element of pathos to their inevitably gruesome ends.B.E.
60.Dhoom 2(Sanjay Gadhvi, 2006)
60.
The movie is kitschy and obsessed with duplicity at every turn.
He loses his powers (Spider-Man 2,X-Men: The Last Stand).
Superman lies to Lois a lot in this film even when she has him dead to rights.
It feels weak-willed more so now given how the latest Spider-Man film ends.
Like the lessons of so many other sequels, not all ofSuperman IIs were worth rehashing.E.V.B.
58.The Revenge of Frankenstein(Terence Fisher, 1958)
58.
Baron Frankenstein has learned from his past mistakes.
57.Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed(Brett Sullivan, 2004)
57.
56.Supercop(Stanley Tong, 1992)
56.
Everything is better with Michelle Yeoh.
Its an elaborate setup and Yeohs performance helps sell the ruse.
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55.Kill Bill: Volume 2(Quentin Tarantino, 2004)
55.
The script is delightful.
Bill massacred the Brides entire wedding party and tried to kill her and her unborn child.
Bills recollection when the Bride confronts him?
I overreacted.Volume 2is full of character work like that, big and small.
54.Top Gun: Maverick
54.
Who in the world actually wanted aTop Gunsequel?
The film is a nostalgic wallow that also serves as a rebuke to nostalgic wallows.
53.Pusher II(Nicolas Winding Refn, 2004)
53.
Nicolas Winding Refns directorial debut,Pusher, was supposed to launch his career, not a franchise.
52.After the Thin Man(W.S.
Van Dyke, 1936)
52.
No one ever came toThe Thin Manseries MGMs dependable box-office draw, never cheaply made expecting a difficult-to-solve whodunit.
Audiences watched because of the natural charm of married sleuthers Nick and Nora Charles and their adorable terrier.
A young Jimmy Stewart plays an unrequited crush.
Its an early turn by him, his aw-shucks prewar persona on display.
51.The Look of Silence(Joshua Oppenheimer, 2014)
51.
Joshua Oppenheimers companion piece to his acclaimed featureThe Act of Killing, crucially shifts perspectives from oppressor to victim.
What these men dont know is that Adis brother was one of the many innocent people slaughtered.
All Adi wants is an acknowledgement of the horrors.
Oppenheimer provides audiences a queasy firsthand look at denial and self-justification.
The past is past, many of these men repeat.
Though lackingThe Act of Killings meta element,The Look of Silenceis no less powerful than its predecessor.
More than anything, it seems to meet Annos need to get ideas out of his own head.
49.The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers(Peter Jackson, 2002)
49.
Still, there were waysThe Two Towerscould have disappointed.
After spending the first film together, our heroes are now split up into three groups.
The tone and cinematography have both darkened.
(Were far from the Shire now.)
But the optimists were right this one rules too.
(Theyd be splintered even further in the third film, where it works less well.)
On the technology front, Andy Serkiss Gollum blew away our expectations for what a motion-capture performance could do.
48.Star Trek VIII: First Contact(Jonathan Frakes, 1996)
48.
Its true,Star Trek, in its modern incarnation, is too enamored with the original series.
And the franchises platonic ideal came late withThe Next Generationin 1987.
47.The Trip to Italy(Michael Winterbottom, 2014)
- Who could possibly still be fooled by Sacha Baron Cohen as the famously inappropriate Kazakh journalist?
The answer: Rudy Giuliani.
Well, not only Rudy Giuliani.
The point isnt how easily Cohen and Bakalova can mess with peoples heads.
Its how messed up all these peoples heads had already gotten since 2006.J.C.
45.Logan(James Mangold, 2017)
45.
It took almost two decades for theX-Menseries to grow up, but the wait was worth it.
James Mangolds film isnt merely another superhero story gone gritty.
It works with, while also gently rebuking, everything thats come before.
44.Addams Family Values(Barry Sonnenfeld, 1993)
44.
Which 90s comedy sequels are better than the originals?Waynes World 2?
Eh.The Spy Who Shagged Me?
Barry Sonnenfields Gothic comedy one-ups its predecessor in several key respects.
who turns out to be a serial killer.
(Okay, so the latter two are the ones you remember.
The point still stands!)
And the one-liners arent bad, either.
He has my fathers eyes.
Take them out of his mouth.N.J.
43.Beyond the Valley of the Dolls(Russ Meyer, 1970)
43.
The end result is an X-rated episode ofJosie and the Pussycatsextracted straight from Satans asshole.
And so he made a film in love with its own dirtiness like a pig in shit.
Note that this came out the same year that John Waters put outMultiple Maniacson a $5,000 budget.
Something was in the water (probably dolls).R.A.
42.The Dark Knight(Christopher Nolan, 2008)
42.
ButThe Dark Knightearned all those plaudits that seem so tiresome today.
Its many, many imitators dont diminish its achievement; if anything, they magnify it.
One man is consumed by guilt, the other is liberated by it.
This was actually a hopeful message in 2008, but it plays like pure fantasy today.
41.Batman Returns(Tim Burton, 1992)
41.
(Id argue Batman movies dont craft an intriguing main character until Matt Reeves.
It feels both unreal and claustrophobic.
But its Michelle Pfeiffer as the ravenous, complex villain Catwoman who runs away with the entire thing.
She doesnt speak so much as purr.
40.Once Upon a Time in China II(Tsui Hark, 1992)
40.
39.The Human Condition III: A Soldiers Prayer(Masaki Kobayashi, 1961)
39.
38.Evil Dead II(Sam Raimi, 1987)
38.
However,Evil Dead IIs ludicrous qualities hardly detract from the films core horror.
37.Oceans Twelve(Steven Soderbergh, 2004)
37.
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36.Mothra vs. Godzilla(Ishiro Honda, 1964)
36.
But with growth inevitably comes greed.
Mothra was Tohos second-most popular kaiju.
She represents peace and harmony, making her a perfect contrast to Godzillas chaos and rage.
35.Quatermass and the Pit(Roy Ward Baker, 1967)
35.
But Hammer Film Productions Ltd. also produced some of Englands most beloved science-fiction films.
34.Terminator 2: Judgment Day(James Cameron, 1991)
34.
The advancement of the technical effects in our reality eerily echoes the techno-accelerationist themes of the film.
But also really, really cool looking.
32.Toy Story 3(Lee Unkrich, 2010)
32.
31.Dawn of the Dead(George A. Romero, 1978)
31.
A shopping mall during peak hours has enough human traffic to distract from its synthetic atmosphere and gaudy commercialism.
30.Ivan the Terrible Part II(Sergei Eisenstein, 1958)
30.
Stalin hated it, and even had Eisenstein brought to him for an impromptu historical lesson.
Eisenstein built his entire narrative around rituals coronations, etc.
The mind reels at what he might have done withPart III.B.E.
29.Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory(Bruce Sinofsky, Joe Berlinger; 2011)
- a reporter asks inPurgatorys final moments, and the answer to that isnt quite clear.
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28.The Bourne Ultimatum(Paul Greengrass, 2007)
28.
27.Sanjuro(Akira Kurosawa, 1962)
27.
Sanjurowasnt supposed to be a sequel.
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26.22 Jump Street(Chris Miller, Phil Lord; 2014)
26.
I thought we had Cate Blanchett with the budget, says Channing Tatums dumb-jock cop Jenko.
25.For a Few Dollars More(Sergio Leone, 1965)
25.
24.Drunken Master II(Jackie Chan, Lau Kar-leung, 2000)
24.
Instead,Drunken Master IIoverflows with fluid action and slapstick comedy.
Lau exited the film before he could direct its final fight sequence with Chan taking over directing duties.
All of these visual delights make it easy to forgetDrunken Master IIs anti-colonialist bent.
23.The Color of Money(Martin Scorsese, 1986)
23.
And theres a lot to appreciate here.
With Scorsese behind the camera, this film moves like a billiard ball speeding toward a corner pocket.
22.Powaqqatsi(Godfrey Reggio, 1988)
22.
In other words, humanity bodies, faces, groups is foregrounded this time around.
The result is more confrontational and more complex in both its imagery and its music.
21.2046(Wong Kar-wai, 2005)
21.
She doesnt seem to remember Mo-wan, though he remembers her well.
20.Return to Oz(Walter Murch, 1985)
20.
(Did this 1985 film invent the gritty reboot?)
Dorothys belief in Oz scars her family, and she is taken to a sanitarium for it.
However, this is not the place of joy and wonder she left behind.
Dorothy decides to help, leading to a journey equal parts creepy and alluring.
19.Stolen Kisses(Francois Truffaut, 1968)
19.
But its sequel is even better.
(Truffaut would go on to make two more features following Antoines romantic travails.)
After the despair ofThe 400 Blows, here is a world that is startlingly alive with possibility.B.E.
18.Mission: Impossible Fallout(Christopher McQuarrie, 2018)
18.
So it is inFallout, where everything is huge.
If previousM:Ifilms were about preventing one nuclear explosion, this one would give you multiple nukes.
17.Before Sunset(Richard Linklater, 2004)
17.
16.Magic Mike XXL(Gregory Jacobs, 2015)
16.
15.The Empire Strikes Back(Irvin Kershner, 1980)
15.
Embedded withinEmpires sci-fi blockbuster framework is a highly entertaining screwball rom-com starring Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford.
In the hands of Kershner,Empirejuggles all of these elements effortlessly.
A few minutes into it, we heard a voice ask, Mom, can I watch this?
Presumably he had never seen the planet Hoth or a wampa or even aStar Warsmovie before.
But with a few quick, unbidden glances atThe Empire Strikes Back, he was instantly hooked.
14.World of Apu(Satyajit Ray, 1960)
14.
13.Spider-Man 2(Sam Raimi, 2002)
13.
Because Im free, B.J.
Thomas croons in that song originally written for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Thats the spirit that runs through this entire movie, even after Spidey reassumes his great responsibility.J.C.
12.Swordsman 2(Ching Siu-tung, 1992)
12.
This is quite possibly the most delirious Hong Kong action film ever made, and thats saying something.
11.Playtime(Jacques Tati, 1967)
11.
10.Babe: Pig in the City(George Miller, 1998)
10.
What do you want from a sequel toBabe?
More heartwarming sheepherding antics?
More Baa-ram-ewe?Babe: Pig in the Cityserves up precisely none of that.
9.Three Colors: Red(Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1994)
9.
But what makes this film so special is that words likeplotandcharacterizationandendingandthemedont describe whats beautiful about it.
You dont sit throughRedto find out what happens next.
You sit through it to feel what happens next.M.Z.S.
8.35 Up(Michael Apted, 1992)
8.
No longer is Who are these people going to be?
7.Blade II(Guillermo del Toro, 2002)
7.
Theres ancient legacy jockeying, in-fighting, familial drama, and a Mos DefslashMassive Attack song that utterly rips.
The blend of practical effects and CG gives the films bombastic action sequences heft.
If anything, it looks fun as hell.
The film contains some fun character actor turns, including from Guillermo del Toro mainstay Ron Pearlman andDonnie Yen.
But the film works so well beyond the chromatic styling del because of Wesley Snipes.
What more can you ask for from a sequel than letting its great star cut loose.A.J.B.
6.Bride of Frankenstein(James Whale, 1935)
6.
5.Aliens(James Cameron, 1986)
5.
Very funny, very corny.
He also took the first pictures simmering class consciousness and turned it into actual warfare against the corporation.
4.Creed(Ryan Coogler, 2015)
4.
But those of us weaned directly or by osmosis onRockymovies recognize it as a scene fromRocky II.
This single, short scene tells you everything about what makesCreedsuch an exceptional sequel.
If possible, they should do both of those things and be thrilling while doing it.
Its clear here, and in almost every frame ofCreed, that a torch is being passed.J.C.
3.Through the Olive Trees(Abbas Kiarostami, 1994)
3.
Do we film or not?
What is the purpose of cinema?
Of writing characters and telling stories?
Of traveling to a place youve never been to work with people you might never see again?
Of recording that endeavor and sharing it?
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2.The Godfather Part II(Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
2.
1.Mad Max: Fury Road(George Miller, 2015)
1.
He doesnt pass the torch to her in the tradition of a legacy sequel.
He doesnt need to.
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