Top 10 Movie Sequels

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. I’ve had some writers block since my last post. This weekend I went to see Iron Man 2, don’t worry I’m not going to divulge the plot. However I am going to do a top 10 list of the BEST MOVIE SEQUELS. Let’s be honest we love Top 10 Lists, if for nothing more than to disagree with the person who wrote the list. Here are some rules I am going to put out there first.

1. Movie must stand alone. Meaning you don’t have to watch a third movie to finish the plot of the second. This rule takes out movies like Pirates of the Caribbean 2, The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, The Bourne Series, both Star Wars Trilogies, etc., because the story being told was really one movie even though it was split into two. The best example Being Kill Bill vol. 1 & 2.
2. It has to be the second movie in the series. This is why greats like Rocky IV when Rocky ended the Cold War and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade are not on this list.

3. Rewatchability. Yes I know it is not a real word, thank you let’s move on. If you read Bill Simmons blog you understand what this means. All this means is the movie has to be good enough that you enjoy watching it over and over again. This also means Iron Man and Boondock Saints will not be on the list because it’s too early to tell.

4. Horror Movies don’t count. Let’s be honest with ourselves, there are way too many and its usually the same plot line with different characters because the majority of them died in the first movie.

5. I need to have seen the movie – I will apologize now to everyone who thinks God Father II should be on this list, I hear it is really good. I would like to watch it, if I can borrow the Box Set I will return it to you and hopefully my life will have changed as much as you think it should. If you want to recommend movies not on the list I do read my comments.

Now those rules are not too difficult are they? So here it goes, The Late Show with David Letterman’s Top 10 Movie Sequels. Oops, I mean The Baron’s Top 10 Movie Sequels.

Honorable Mention: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me – This movie was made when Mike Myers was still funny as a non-animated character. This movie has three things that make it so good, 1) Heather Graham in tight clothing, 2) Mini-Me, and 3) Fat Bastard. People still walk around and quote this movie. What hurts this movie the most is Goldmember was not that good and Myers is making a Fourth for some reason. There is also the fall of Myers career, much like the next man on our list.

10) Ghost Busters II – How do you follow up defeating a giant sized Marshmallow Man? By opening the 10th Level of Hell in NYC, bringing Lady Liberty to life and walking it through the streets of Manhattan to defeat Vigo the Carpathian, and bringing back the main cast along with Slimer. This may not be better than the original but it is really close. It’s also good for the family and children of all ages. Slimer if you remember the original was captured and put into the Ghost Chamber. The decided to bring him back for a cameo in the second movie because of the popularity the cartoon series gained in which Slimer was more of a pet that lived at the Ghost Busters station.

9) Beverly Hills Cop II – Eddie Murphy is back as Axel Foley and he’s back on another case in the 90210. This time Foley is welcomed to Beverly Hills to help on a case with Taggart and Rosewood to try and find the people responsible for shooting Captain Bogomil. The Trio of Foley, Taggard, and Rosewood find themselves in some crazy situations throughout the movie that add to the comedy, but we all know that Murphy carried this movie, everything he did in the 80’s turned to gold. It’s too bad this movie probably gets lost on a lot of people because most of us cannot remember the last time he made a good movie.

8) Lethal Weapon 2 – Riggs and Murtaugh are back this time to take down a South African Arms dealer. This movie also introduced Joe Pesci’s character Leo Getz. Remember, “I'm Leo Getz, and whatever you want, Leo gets.” This is also the one where Roger is trapped on his toilet because there’s a bomb attached to it. In the end Rigs and Murtaugh get the bad guys and destroy most of the town, but it is still fun to watch. The comedy of this scene almost makes the movie. Another great Police Comedy and it’s not the last one on this list.

7) Back to the Future II – Marty McFly and Doc Brown are heading to the future this time in the DeLorean, this time it flies. Once it hits 88 mph they are in the year 2015. In this futuristic time not much has changed except skateboards hover and cars fly. I guess we have 5 years before this movie’s perception of the future is disproved, but I don’t think we will see flying cars anytime soon. This is a classic film, I enjoyed the whole series. The movie itself is not complex, but for the mid to early 80’s the special effects weren’t bad. Plus how many of us would drive a DeLorean if given one?

6) Rocky II – I can hear it now, how is Rocky II only number 7? It’s because as good as the second one is, four is better. The story is similar to the original except at the end when Rocky defeats Apollo Creed and utters one of the most famous lines in movie history, “Yo Adrian, I did it!” The thing about the Rocky movies are Stalone makes you believe he is an Average Joe the whole time and you know exactly what his character is going through the whole time. So when he beats Apollo you feel like you have won the Heavy Weight Title.

5) Bad Boys II – This movie was on the other day and yes, I started watching it and sat through it till the end. The sad part is I own it on DVD and even though it’s in a box in storage right now I still would’ve watched the TV version. Martin Lawrence (Marcus) and Will Smith (Mike) are great together. The first movie was really good but I think the second might be better. Marcus and Mike are trying to take down drug runners from Cuba during this movie. There are some really good chase scenes in this movie, starting with the chase through Miami where Mike is driving his Ferrari after a semi truck that is chasing Marcus’s sister. They destroy half the city in this chase. A little side note but I love how two cops can destroy a city and all they get is a stern yelling at by their superiors in a movie. The last chase, Mike, Marcus and his sister steal a Hummer as they are chased through Cuba on their way to Guantanamo. This chase by far surpasses the chase at the end of the first Bad Boys. We also learned that rubbing our ears and saying, “Woooosaaaa,” will calm us down.

4) Die Hard2: Die Harder – Back before John McLane became somewhat of a Super Hero he was just a cop with bad luck. McLane found himself in another situation over the Christmas holidays when he waits for his wife at Washington Dulles International Airport. McLane battles mercenaries who are trying to free an international criminal before his trial. The suspense thickens when McLane finds out his wife is still circling the airport waiting to land. McLane always gets into the craziest of situations and this film is no different, but at the end he saves the day and saves his wife. The Die Hard Series also gave us one of the more memorable movie quotes, “Yippie-Kai-yay Mother F***er.”

3) Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom – This film is the reason the MPAA needed to create an intermediate rating between G and R. Along with Gremlins the violence was too much for the G rating so the creation of the PG-13 rating followed after complaints that Temple of Doom was given a G rating. The first movie distributed with the PG-13 rating was Red Dawn in 1984. Indiana Jones is one of the best characters written for the big screen. The movies are a little out there, but fun and exciting from start to finish. The little Asian boy in this movie, Short Round, was hilarious too.

2) The Dark Knight – This is how you write a sequel to a comic book hero movie. Many will argue that Superman II or Spiderman 2 was the first to write a good sequel, but I couldn’t disagree more. I like both of those movies, but Superman II was a terrible story. Outside of the Superman battling General Zod it was pretty lame. Superman gave up his powers for most of the movie, how can that make for a good movie? Spiderman 2 was good, but Spiderman is sometimes over the top cheesy. The Dark Knight set the bar high, until Iron Man 2 this weekend I have not seen a Sequel that balanced the story with the action to make for a full experience while watching the movie. It also helps that the Joker was such a phenomenal character. In my opinion Heath Ledger played the most convincing Joker I’ve ever seen. I loved Jack as the Joker, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Heath’s. The deeper side of the film that looked at the characters themselves was amazing. The Joker and Batman are very similar with the difference being Batman has a code of ethics and Joker does not. Then there was the transformation of Harry to Two-Face showing how easy it would be for Batman to become the Joker. It was hard not to put this movie at the top of the list, but when you read what made it you should understand.

1) Terminator 2: Judgment Day – T2 set the bar high for action movie sequels. If you ask me this move was far superior to every other movie in the Terminator series. Terminator: Salvation was good and surpassed expectations, but is that really an accomplishment after Terminator 3? In T2 the T800 (Arnold) comes back to protect John Conner from the T1000. At the beginning of the movie you have a hard time believing that the T800 can do anything against the T1000. The T1000 cannot be destroyed. It isn’t until the end that the T1000 falls into the vat of molten steel. The T800 follows him into the vat hoping to destroy all evidence of the robots in an effort to save humanity. The movie starts with a great chase scene and ends with a great battle. There is action and suspense throughout the film. This series also provided us with another memorable line from movie history, “I’ll be back.”

I know there are going to be disagreements with this list so I look forward to hearing them. I highly recommend going to see Iron Man 2 if you have not already.