When the Sequel Eclipses the Original

The sequel to this video will be brilliant.

I would also add Shrek 2 to the "best sequel of all time" list.

"I know it was you, Joker", Feyd-Rautha said calmly.

The Godfather Part II to me is the greatest sequel ever because of the standards it had to live up to

Paddington 2 / Rush Hour 2. Two absolutely spectacular movies.

The same thing applies for recording artists with their debut album versus their sophomore album!

I'm leaving a comment, so algorithm is happy and the author can afford to make the version of this video, they planned from the beggining.

I think there's an essential difference between a sequel made out of success from the first one and a story that's already imagined and done as more than one movie.

The Dark Knight is my all-time favourite film.

4:04 “The originals were merely low-budget prototypes of what could come next.” I’m reminded strongly of El Mariachi and Desperado.

Another good example (in my book at least) is Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

I love the subtlety of reusing the same Hollywood's sign shot while pointing out the sequel for being a rehash of the original movie.

Favorite channel of a guy talking about a thing

I feel Across the Spider Verse is a great example of a sequel that takes risks as discussed in the video. I felt the first Spider Verse movie was kind of just a generic superhero movie with a cool art style. Yeah, it was good but I didn’t find its story to be anything exceptional.  The story of Across the Spider Verse on the other hand was anything but generic. It was a lot more morally gray and the events of the film really challenged the main character (Miles) on what being a hero truly means.  The villain in the second movie also isn’t generically evil like in the first movie and in some ways you could even argue he is in the right more than Miles. This is why I definitely prefer Across the Spider Verse to Into the Spider Verse and think it is one of the best sequels I have seen in the last 10 years.

The earliest sequel I ever saw, was 'Demetrius & the Gladiators' (1954)- it was a sequel to 'The Robe' (1953) - the latter was based on a book ['The Robe', by Lloyd C Douglas], but the film sequel wasn't based on the book sequel, it just appeared to be following Victor Mature's character -- though, according to Wikipedia, a filmed sequel was eventually made to the book sequel, 'The Big Fisherman', in 1959- it doesn't appear to have any plot-connection to the previous films, other than Saint Peter- who was played by a different actor...

One reason some sequels excel is that they, in some fashion or another, reorient the trajectory of the storytelling and recontextualize what came before in ways that improve the originals. What makes The Empire Strikes Back so brilliant in this regard is that it changes the trajectory of the Star Wars saga from being one about, to be a bit reductive, "plucky rebels taking down an evil empire to save the galaxy," to being one much more about "a noble son trying to save his father's soul while not losing his own." For all the brilliance of A New Hope, there's just something much deeper and more enthralling about such a thematic change, and its ramifications completely recolor A New Hope in more interesting ways. In some fashion, it's also how some sequels make successive ones less-than. I could dedicate an entire book to their successes and shortcomings, but It says a lot about the Disney Star Wars sequels (The Force Awakens thru The Rise of Skywalker) that, in some fashion, they revert the franchise back to being a saga about "plucky rebels taking down an evil empire to save the galaxy," and as a result, reduce themselves as a result. They're no longer preoccupied with such deeper storytelling considerations, and they're lesser for it.

I always enjoy these analytical videos. I've been about doing the same thing for video games.

Part of what made The Dark Knight great was that Nolan always thought of Batman Begins as a single film and was not thinking ahead. You can watch Batman Begins and be totally happy with it on its own. It's a pretty self-contained story. I think it would've been a different film if he was funded to make a trilogy. That would've affected his creative sense by looking at a much larger story. Because he had that Joker moment at the end, that stirred people's curiosity of what a second film could entail. What I love about each film in his trilogy is that they all feel different. The Dark Knight was a big step up from Batman Begins. You saw the wider world and the consequences of Bruce's actions from Batman Begins. The Dark Knight is the fallout from that. The Dark Knight Rises is more fallout but he's having to build himself up again to save Gotham. Nolan's trilogy is so good!

You didn't mention Top Gun Maverick or Blade Runner 2049.

Another sequel which is just a rehash is A Quiet Place 2, should have taken notes from Aliens to make it better