The Best Movie Sequels

Toy Story 2 improves upon the first in a number of ways, most impressively the animation. In only four years, from 1995 to 1999, the abilities of the Pixar artists to create their unique look while maintaining a level of total realism improved vastly.

Roaming the highways of post-apocalyptic Australia, years after he avenged his wife and son and his partner who were murdered by the motorcycle gang led by the evil Toecutter. Burnt out former Australian policeman Max Rockatansky, now known as "The Road Warrior" searching for sources of fuel, stumbles upon a gasoline refinery home to a community of survivors who are struggling for survival and finds the community is being terrorized by a band of brutal motorcyclists led by The Humangus and his finest warrior, Wez, who bid to loot all the gasoline from the refinery for themselves. The community hires Max, as Max agrees to help the community transport the gasoline across the highway and fight for freedom, as they are pursued by the Humangus and his warriors.

The James Cameron sequel to Alien is one of the most beloved sci-fi films out there.

One of the most cherished trilogies of all time puts The Two Towers in prime position for this list. As a standalone feature, Two Towers is as epic as they come. Of course, it is near impossible to think of any one of the Lord of the Rings films without thinking of the other two. But sticking to the second installment, the key factor to Two Towers‘ greatness is the brilliant performance of Gollum.

The sequel takes the dark mythology of Star Wars and punches you right in the face with it.

Heath Ledger’s performance is one of the most beloved in film right now, and his tragic death prior to the movie’s release only enhanced its timelessness.

Ian Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his crew for the death of his brother.

Several months had passed since The X-Men defeated Magneto and imprisoned him in a plastic chamber. One day, a mutant going by the name of "Nightcrawler" infiltrates The White House and attempts to assassinate The President. Meanwhile, Logan is trying to discover his past, and wonder why he became a mutant.

It is the 23rd century. The Federation Starship U.S.S. EnterpriseTM is on routine training maneuvers and Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) seems resigned to the fact that this inspection may well be the last space mission of his career. But Khan is back.

It had great space battle action and insight into Captain Kirk via his grappling with middle age and the discovery that he had a son he never knew about. Combine that with Ricardo Montalban’s royally over-the-top performance and bulging pecs, and you have what many Trekkers consider to be the best Star Trek movie ever made.

It all comes down to General Zod, really. One of the most enjoyable villains in superhero history even gets the Man of Steel to bow at his feet.

The Godfather: Part II is a sprawling epic that captures the intensity of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in a way the first film simply couldn’t.