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It’s the year 2022. If you’ve checked a calendar recently – and you aren’t reading this in the future – you likely knew that. So let’s do a little something in honor of that fact. It’s a big year for the number two, and that got us thinking about movie sequels. Namely, sequels that are as good, or better, than the original. Specifically, second films that are on part with first films. There are more than you might think. Here are five of them. Why not two? Well, what kind of list would that make?
1. Spider-Man 2
The first Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie gave us an upside-down kiss, and all in all it’s a solid movie. That being said, Spider-Man 2 was definitely an improvement. There’s more confidence in the storytelling in Sam Raimi’s second of three films about the web-slinging superhero. To many, Spider-Man 2 is still one of the best superhero movies ever.
2. Wayne’s World 2
Wayne’s World and its sequel showed that Saturday Night Live could yield successful films based on sketches. The sketch was effectively just Wayne and Garth doing their public access show, so they really had to flesh the characters, and the world, out for the movie. They succeeded, though, and the sequel took things to a new level with the introduction of Waynestock, plus some fun stuff with Garth and a woman played by Kim Basinger.
3. Toy Story 2
Toy Story was a cinematic achievement. It was the first fully-computer-animated feature film. Of course, technical achievement and quality don’t always go hand in hand. Now, we aren’t knocking Toy Story, but Toy Story 2 got to billed off of it and also wasn’t trying to break technological ground.
4. Aliens
We’re big proponents of Alien. It’s a gripping horror movie. Aliens, on the other hand, is a rip-roaring action film. They are quite different, but both equally good in their own ways. James Cameron did what he does best in making bombast gel into a worthwhile marriage of story and spectacle.
5. Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins is a really good horror comedy with some Christmas thrown into the mix. Gremlins 2 is basically a slapstick horror comedy, though it goes heavy on the comedy. It’s absurd anarchy and the closest thing we’ve ever seen to a Looney Tunes horror film. Some sequels are rehashes. This one is a reinvention.
