Top 5 Superior Sequels (Faith Westlake)

A special thanks to Jo Clarkson and Stephen Gillespie who filled the multiple gaps in my knowledge. Enjoy.

5. Kill Bill Vol. 2

Quentin Tarentino ranks pretty high when it comes to my favourite directors and the first Tarentino film I saw was Kill Bill Vol.2. One of the criticisms of the Kill Bill films is that Kill Bill Vol.1 seems to be based almost completely on action and violence and then pretty much all the story is crammed into Vol. 2. It’s for this reason that I generally try to watch them both together but with a combined running time of over 4 hours this can be very inconvenient. The films were given a cinematic release a year apart to break up the length and maximise revenue with both feature films averaging about 2 hours each. It’s easy to say that my favourite fight scenes are in Vol. 1 but the best dialogue, build up and character development is in Vol. 2. Speaking of suspense I don’t actually think we see Bill’s face until Vol.2… This would probably have ranked a lot higher on this list if I didn’t advocate seeing the two as one long feature. Also how could I not love a tribute to B-Movies, spaghetti westerns and classic martial arts movies?

4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

The Last Crusade is probably my favourite of the Indiana Jones series. This film gives us as insight into Indy’s youth, as played by River Phoenix, and introduces us to his fath

er Henry Sr. (brilliant played by Sean Connery). The dialogue between Henry and Indy is some of the best in the series and their interactions are a delight to watch. As with any great sequel the characters and story are better developed and the inclusion of Nazi’s as villains sets up the film’s context and sticks closer to the foundations of the Raiders of the Lost Arc. Also if you’ve watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull you’ll definitely appreciate how great of a sequel this is.

3. Terminator 2: Rise of the Machines

Terminator 2: Rise of the Machines is widely regarded as one of the greatest movie sequels and is the only one of the Terminator sequels to be directed by the original director James Cameron. There’s a shift in focus here and as this films focus a lot more on John Connor himself. This film has a lot of character development here such as Sarah Connor’s moving from a damsel in distress to a strong and independent fighter (despite being semi-psychotic…) The villain of the first film becomes the hero here in an interesting and inspired move. One of the biggest changes has to be the terminator upgrade which leaves us with the liquid metal T-100 shows great special effects and innovation. Some of the effects in this film are better than some of the stuff we see today despite it being 18 years old. A great piece of modern sci-fi.

2. Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back is arguable the best of all the Star Wars films. The story is improved and has a lot more depth. The tone of this film is much darker than that of its predecessor and has less cliché moments which has helped the Star Wars films to become cult movie classics and essential viewing. The dialogue is great and memorable. Character development is also a great part of this film with the characters beginning somewhere and finishing somewhere different, they all change in some way. The cult favourite Boba Fett is giving a much larger role in this film and the relationship between Leia and Han blossoms. Also it contains one the greatest twists of all time. The film ends on a pretty bleak note which was a gutsy move for Lucas for a summer blockbuster but we couldn’t imagine it any other way.

1. X-Men 2

I have to admit I have a soft spot for the X-Men…

X-Men 2 doesn’t aim to fit in as many mutants as possibly to appease fan boys (X-Men Origins Wolverine…) but instead really only focuses on one new mutant, Nightcrawler who is well acted and developed. Despites the X-Men being a large team each character gets a fair bit of screen time to move them forward but really the main focus is, as always, on Wolverine. Although he is a really interesting character and the insights and clues into his past really make you want to keep watching to find out the truth. Director Bryan Singer set up the basic story and characters in X-Men so here he has a bit more license to focus on deeper stories and themes such as the conflict between mutants and humans, the prejudice in their world and the corrupt branch of government that Stryker leads. X-Men 2 probably has some of the most memorable scenes of the series; mutant storms the Whitehouse, Magneto’s escape from the plastic prison and the fight between Wolverine and Deathstrike. It’s well written, well acted and well directed and, along with Sin City, is probably one of my favourite comic book movies.

EDIT: When getting the pictures for this I remembered how great the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film posters are... Nice one Drew Struzan

Thanks for the read, Faith Westlake

wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk