20 Movie Sequels That Were Better Than the Originals
When it comes to movies, there is often a general feeling that sequels are never quite as good as the original. After all, follow-up films can often be pumped-out projects trying to recapture the magic of something great, and they often fall short as a result.
But not always. Sometimes, like in the case of the new Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel is even better received than the first film.
Read on to learn more about 20 movies that critics thought were indeed better than the initial project, ranked by the Metascore point differential between the first and second film (from smallest to largest jump in score).
Original film:
▣ Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
In 2011, director Joe Johnston and Chris Evans teamed for Captain America: The First Avenger — an origin story of the MCU’s most patriotic superhero. Three years later, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo took over directorial duties for the sequel, which takes place following the New York events from The Avengers. In it, Steve Rogers, a.k.a. the titular Captain America (Evans), is trying to live a new, lowkey life in the modern world, but he is quickly thrown back into the thick of it when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague is attacked.
“Beneath the expensive, computer-generated busyness of this second Captain America installment is a bracing, old-style conspiracy thriller made extra-scary by new technology and the increasingly ugly trade-offs of a post-9/11 world.” —David Edelstein, Vulture