More often than not, sequels are frequently inferior to the original. This usually comes as a result of the producers’ desire to increase the profit generated from their original investment. Sequels often seem rushed and lack the same creative vision of the first film. However, on some occasions, a sequel will be better than the original film.
Below, I have selected five films that I believe are better than their predecessors.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (James Cameron, 1991)
This sequel is set sometime after the events of The Terminator, and a young John Connor (Edward Furlong) is unaware that he will one day become the leader of the Resistance, against the future robot uprising. The film turns the titular Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) of the previous film into the good guy, who is sent back in time to protect John Connor from the threat of another cyborg. The film is far superior to the original, as it is has a much better story, better action and special effects, and overall a much more enjoyable film.
22 Jump Street (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, 2014)
22 Jump Street quite hilariously uses the first film as a template for its storyline, as it was so successful. The film is fully aware of the ridiculousness of more or less copying the previous film. 22 Jump Street is funnier, bolder and crazier than 21 Jump Street, and Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are a delight to watch.
The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
Quite easily the best film in Nolan’s Batman trilogy. From the story to the characters, most especially Heath Ledger’s incredible portrayal of The Joker, The Dark Knight is a much better film than Batman Begins. Nolan raises the stakes in the sequel and once again includes multiple villains as well as The Joker, such as Harvey “Two-Face” Dent, and an appearance from Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow. Such an enthralling film that is arguably one of the finest superhero films to date.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Francis Lawrence, 2013)
Set directly after the events of the first film in The Hunger Games trilogy, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire sees the main character, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) return to the arena in which she is once again forced to fight for survival against several other tributes.
The film is a bigger and more polished version of its predecessor, expanding on the dystopian world, originally created by Suzanne Collins in the novels. Also, Jennifer Lawrence provides a great performance as Katniss and there are some strong performances from the supporting cast, which all contributes to a very good sequel.
Spider-Man 2 (Sam Raimi, 2004)
Although Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy probably won’t go down in the history books, the films were hugely popular in the early-mid 2000s. They are also more successful than the poorly-received reboot starring Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. Spider-Man 2 was a great improvement on the first film, as the sequel was no longer hindered by the need to explore the character’s origins.
The film has better action scenes and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus, is a much more interesting and entertaining villain. Seen as one of the superior films in its genre, Spider-Man 2 is another rare occurrence in which the sequel is better than the original.
Motion Picture Blog 
All nice choices but i will always say Dark Knight, Spiderman 2 and Catching Fire are only better because they don’t have to explain origins for the characters with the building work completed in film one. While Terminator 2 does have nearly $100Million bigger budget so you would expect it to be better.
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That’s true, but the third films in both the Spider-man and Dark knight trilogies were easily the worst IMO, and they were not hindered by any origin stories.
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you can add Hunger Games to that list and Terminator. I am glad you didn’t put Return of the King on the list though. Off the top of my head The Raid 2, Scream 2 and American Pie 2 are ones i enjoyed for a range of different reasons.
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There are a few others I could have put on the list. I focused on direct sequels rather than the third, forth in a series etc. I haven’t seen The Raid 2 but I definitely preferred the first Scream and the first American Pie
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not sure if The Dark Knight Rises should be considered the worst of Nolan’s Batman trilogy…it wasn’t as good as The Dark Knight, but it was probably better than Batman Begins or at least just as good…Terminator 2 was def better than The Terminator, and it can be considered a self-contained film, i.e. not requiring you to see the first one beforehand… …btw, any thoughts on whether you think The Godfather part II is better than The Godfather?
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I just didn’t really like dark night rises that much, but that’s just me. I preferred The Godfather II but I haven’t actually seen those films in so long. Defo need to revisit them.
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The Raid 2 for me does exactly what a sequel should do. It built upon and added what the first film was missing.
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Sounds good, I’ll have to check it out. I did really like the first one
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nice list! a lot of people don’t seem to think so, but I found temple of doom to be just a touch better than raiders of the lost ark! funnier and darker at the same time.
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I don’t know why everyone got so down on Raimi’s Spiderman films, the 1st 2 were excellent, with the 2nd edging out the first.
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I think it was more to do with the mishandling of the character. Tobey Maguire was a good Peter Parker, but he was really bad at actually playing Spider-Man. It was all a bit cheesy and comic book spider-man is known for his jokes and sarcasm, which Maguire didn’t capture at all. But yes, the first two were good movies nonetheless.
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Solid list. I would even put Aliens (1986) on there, but that’s just my opinion. They’re two totally different movies…both equally great.
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Yeah I’ve heard good things about the alien sequel. I haven’t seen it myself, but need to at some point.
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omg. get to it!
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Fun list, and all good picks. We could have used your expertise – we were discussing “is the third always the worst” on our podcast this week.
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I actually do think that the majority of the time the third one is the worst. There are so many trilogies where this is the case. Off the top of my head I immediately think of the matrix revolutions, the third terminator, the dark knight rises, spider-man 3, hunger games: Mockingjay… However, there are some exceptions like Toy Story 3 was awesome, on par with the first one if not better. And the third Lord of the rings was the best one IMO.
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I would have Aliens in my list!
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