Top 10 Best Sequels

Two versions of this list appear in my collection Everyone Else is Wrong (And You Know It): Criticism/Humor/Non-Fiction. Click the link to purchase the hardcover or paperback edition along with some of my other published work.

Since we delved into my picks for the worst sequels of all time last week, it felt appropriate to revisit a list I've been working on since I began film criticism a long time ago. This edition differs from my two original lists (which were published together in my book as my taste had evolved from the first and second drafts). The following is an amalgamation of those original efforts. As far as my criteria, I concentrated on sequel films that were significantly better than the first efforts, with the possible exception of Aliens, which is a film equally on par with Ridley Scott's original Alien. You will notice typically highly-ranked sequels like The Godfather Part II are not below. This is based completely on my personal taste. I am in the minority of folks who believe The Godfather needed no sequel although there are things I admire about both parts 2 and 3. Also, I give explanations below which do not appear in my book to justify my choices.

Please like this post and, in the comments, include your top picks or films you think I criminally excluded. Happy reading!

10. Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol (2011)

Brian DePalma's 1996 original mostly baffled audiences when it first appeared, Mission: Impossible 2 had some wonderful campy material, and the third film was admired mostly for its villain (played by the immortal Philip Seymour Hoffman). With this one, former animator Brad Bird crafted a mini-masterpiece of action/adventure and gave the series the sea legs it desperately needed to continue in (so far) three more films which continue to impress both discerning and non-discerning viewers.

9. Hot Shots!: Part Deux (1993)

Just because it's a silly comedy doesn't mean it doesn't warrant a place on this list. The 1991 original shows Jim Abrahams' (Airplane, The Naked Gun series) top-notch skill at parody, slapstick, and deadpan humor. But, the follow-up surpassed the original in the number of laughs. With homages to Apocalypse Now, the Rambo films, and strong performances by Charlie Sheen and Lloyd Bridges, this is the one I can't stop watching once I've started.

8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

The first two films in the Harry Potter series were professionally made, certainly: the first was maybe a little turgid and the second overlong but full of charm. But, with the choice of director one of the finest filmmakers working, Alfonso Cuarón, the series took a major step forward in quality of storytelling and visual magic. Cuarón is equally adept at films for adults and children (see his A Little Princess) and he was the first director in the series to illicit fully watchable performances from its young cast. On a more basic level, the time-travel plot is one of the best rendered in the series making this one the first one we could call a classic.

7. Aliens (1986)

Say what you want about James Cameron's excesses, the man knows how to make a good popcorn movie. Taking over from Ridley Scott, he created an imminently quotable film with perhaps the strongest performance of Sigourney Weaver's career. It is rare for a sequel to match the original even if the strengths are very different. Scott's is more cerebral, but Cameron's is more moving and definitely more fun to watch.

6. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

1977's The Rescuers was born out of the malaise of the animation unit of Walt Disney Studios as it was searching for a direction after Walt's demise. The original has its fans, but I found it boring as both a child and adult. With beautiful computer and cel animation, The Rescuers Down Under beats it in every single way. This is one of many Disney films that does not get the credit it deserves. As the first animated sequel the company produced (and coming nearly fifteen years after the original), it is unique and, in my opinion, sublime entertainment.

5. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982)

There is a longstanding argument that the even-numbered films of the original Star Trek film series are the best and you'll find no argument from me. I admire Star Trek: The Motion Picture for its attempt at a kind of epic ambition, but The Wrath of Kahn and its stellar performance by Ricardo Montalban, remains the best Trek film of them all. Most might argue it should go higher on the list, but this list is an embarassment of riches as you'll see with the final four choices.

4. Flirting (1991)

Australia has given us many great actors, but few pay attention to the quality of Aussie directors and screenwriters. The strongest of both was John Duigan who, because of this film, had a brief moment directing Hollywood fare. Flirting is a sequel to 1987's The Year My Voice Broke, a tender look at adolescence and, apparently, autobiographical as representative of Duigan's childhood of desolate landscapes and loneliness. The sequel, though, is the best kept secret in the cinema of the 1990s. With arresting performances by Thandie Newtwon and Noah Taylor (and early performances by Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts), this tale of two youngsters (one from an all boys' school and one from an all girls' school) discovering love and lust in 1965 is a true masterwork. It manages to be evocative of adolescence, wryly funny, and somehow a distillation of the Australian experience.

3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Peter Jackson's original Tolkien trilogy serves as three of the best films of the 2000s, especially in their Extended Editions (which is the only way I watch them now). The Fellowship of the Ring may be a perfect movie, but The Two Towers never feels like its own film, but instead a piece of tape conjoining the first and last installments. While we can whine about the multiple endings in this one, they are well deserved after such an epic story. It keeps our attentions rapt from beginning to end.

2. Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

George Lucas cannot be said to be a great (or even) good director or screenwriter. His strengths are in his creative and visual imagination. He did the right thing by handing off the directing reigns to his former teacher Irvin Kershner who crafts the most perfect film of the original nine-part saga. Both darker and more entertaining than the first, it also overshadowed everything that came later (strictly from a filmmaking point of view).

1. The Dark Night (2008)

While Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker is a gripping element, The Dark Knight remains the finest superhero made regardless. How Christopher Nolan does what he does, I have not yet been able to pin down. His films are intelligent, moving, packed with action (or visual daring), and exceptionally well written. While the other two films in this series have strengths and weaknesses, I've yet to find a weakness in this one. While comic book franchise films were already becoming predominant in the industry at that time, this is the one that made people sit up and realize they can be great art as well (in the right hands). Everything else, including everything film from the MCU, would be lucky to lick the boot of this Batman adventure.

"Top" 10 Worst Sequels

A version of this list appears in my collection Everyone Else is Wrong (And You Know It): Criticism/Humor/Non-Fiction. Click the link to purchase the hardcover or paperback edition along with some of my other published work.

While this has not been updated to include more recent fare, the bad taste left by these films listed has never left me. The list is based purely on the let-down factor of a great film preceding it or by the sheer nonsensical nature of their existence. Unlike in my book, I elaborate more fully below on why these 10 were chosen. Happy reading(?)

10. The Neverending Story III: Escape from Fantasia (1994)

While many detest The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter (1990), this second sequel to Wolfgang Peterson's 1984 fantasy epic The Neverending Story makes that film a masterpiece by comparison. Michael Ende's engrossing and too-little read novel has never really been transferred properly to the big screen (and the book's second half would be unfilmable), but the original film has become a cult classic over time and has a charm of its own, especially with its striking special effects. This clunker, starring Free Willy's Jason James Richter, is the epitome of shark jumping into cheesy effects, unfunny comedy, and adding nothing either to Ende's folklore or the spirit of children's fantasy films.

9, Big Top Pee-wee (1988)

Tim Burton's debut Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) was a watershed in children's entertainment for my generation. We got our first glimpse of Burton's style, albeit in brighter colors than he would ever use again. With Randal Kleiser's sequel, Paul Reubens is given nothing to do (odd, since he is partially responsible for the screenplay). A talented cast (including Kris Kristofferson and Valeria Golino) and Danny Elfman's score are completely wasted in this lazy box office bomb.

8. The Odd Couple II (1998)

With the advent of the Grumpy Old Men franchise, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau traded on their original chemistry in the 1968 film version of Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple. Checking in on Oscar and Felix thirty years later is not a bad idea in itself, but Simon was never as adept a screenwriter as he was a playwright, often simply translating his plays with very little changes to the silver screen. His worst film scripts, however, are based on his original film ideas and The Odd Couple II is the definition of a let-down.

7. American Psycho II: All-American Girl (2002)

Technically, this straight-to-DVD horror comedy is not a sequel to Mary Harron's 2000 adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' transgressive novel at all, but was an original story entitled The Girl Who Wouldn't Die. Knowing they had a stinker on their hands, Lions Gate Films attached the Psycho brand to it and embarrassed everybody involved, including Ellis, Mila Kunis, and William Shatner (and that's saying something*).

6. National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)

John Hughes adapted his National Lampoon magazine short story "Vacation '58" into the 1983 film starring Chevy Chase that spawned a franchise well into the mid-2010s. While National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2 (2003) is perhaps the worst, as a follow-up to the original adventure to Wally World, European Vacation is an tepid, incoherent mess as the Griswolds win a trip to Europe leading to consistently head-slapping running gags. This is not a film about ugly Americans traipsing around the Old Country, but an ugly film about ugly people who apparently populate the world. Perhaps they do, but that doesn't mean we have to see it.

5. Muppet Treasure Island (1996)

I'm often contrarian to my generation. Many will fight me on this, but their love of films like Hocus Pocus and Muppet Treasure Island mystifies me. Overblown, overcrowded, and with unquestionably worse songs than the four previous films, this Muppetized Treasure Island is saved only by Tim Curry. But, when camp is all you have to save you...let's just say there's less treasure and more bilge and barnacles.

4. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

While Superman III plunged the original Superman franchise into over-the-top comedy, that is nothing compared to the low-budget nonsense of Superman IV. When the franchise was sold to the masters of schlock Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, the cost-cutting and crude storytelling make fools of Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, and Margot Kidder, rending almost everything that came before it a joke. Perhaps I've got blinders on, but Richard Donner's original film remains the best film version of the Superman story while this piece of garbage is best left under lock and key.

3. Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

Another movie that proves when you've come to Part IV you'd better stop, Jaws: The Revenge contains perhaps the most asinine plot of all the films on this list. Since Roy Scheider refused to return to the series after Jaws 3-D sent the series into free fall, this time the shark is out for his family, including Lorraine Gary (who happened to be married to the president of Universal Studios). Legend has it Michael Caine could not accept his well-deserved Oscar for Hannah and Her Sisters because he was shooting this. I personally would have chosen to pick up my statuette, but Caine is an old-school pro even when churning out big budget D minus movies.

2. Batman and Robin (1997)

It is normally not kind to speak ill of the dead, but with Joel Schumacher and his ridiculous filmography, I'm willing to make an exception. This overblown, campy, and toyetic film was typical of the malaise of late-'90s Hollywood although so many Oscar-winners and nominees were attached to it. You sit agog at the dreck of the whole enterprise. The series had already taken a left turn with Batman Forever (and, in some ways, Batman Returns), but Holy Cow, Batman, this movie stinks.

1. Caddyshack II (1988)

Perhaps the original 1980 Caddyshack is not a great film, but Caddyshack II remains, to this day, the worst professional Hollywood film I've ever seen. James Mason takes the reins from Rodney Dangerfield and, while his standup was something to admire, he belonged in movies the way he belonged in figure skating. Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd make special appearances (unfunny ones), but it is characters like those played by Randy Quaid that make this film so painful to endure. Robert Stack remains professional throughout, but that (and a sillier gopher even than in the first film) had audiences scratching their heads and wondering, "What am I doing with my life watching this? Can I get my time and money back?"

*This is a cheap joke. I like William Shatner a lot.

TV Review- HITLER AND THE NAZIS: EVIL ON TRIAL

NOTE: Unfortunately, I was unable to make the deadline last Friday due to illness. To catch up, another blog post will appear tomorrow at 10am on the site.

***½ out of ****

Joe Berlinger became known as a documentarian of extraordinary power with films he co-directed by the late Bruce Sinofsky. Both were responsible for a trilogy of television docs concerning the West Memphis Three trial, another legendary case during the “Satanic Panic” of the ‘80s and early ‘90s. Those three films—Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory—were made as the events were unfolding and helped (partially) exonerate three innocent men of a wretched homicide, the investigation of which was botched from the get-go.

Recently, Berlinger has been responsible for many docuseries on Netflix, the latest of which also covers a famous trial—perhaps the most important trial of the 20th Century: the Nuremberg trials. My interest in how Western Civilization could have achieved such a failure as allowing the Shoah to take place has led me to comb through as many movies on the subject as I possibly could, the standouts being Stanley Kramer’s magnificent 1961 epic Judgment at Nuremberg (featuring the finest performances of both Spencer Tracy and Maximilian Schell's careers) and an all-star television film, Nuremberg, from the early 2000s. Books such as Raul Hilberg’s massive and essential The Destruction of the European Jews show how the National Socialist German Workers’ Party meticulously plotted, mostly through documents, first the expulsion, the ghettoization, and then, later, the mass murder of more than six million Jews during the reign of the Third Reich as it was perpetrating wars on both its Western and Eastern fronts.

Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial has its faults, but there is perhaps no better dispelling of the myth that if Adolph Hitler had not come to power, someone else would have gone down the same road. After all, antisemitism in Germany pervaded the society for centuries after Martin Luther spent the last days of his life choking on his own bile, excoriating his Jewish brothers and sisters.

Often, Hitler is thought of as a cypher who was caught up in the Zeitgeist and gave Germany what it craved. Instead, the six-part series shows Hitler’s evil genius as he rose from humble beginnings in Vienna as a frustrated painter to become a fascist dictator unlike anyone excepting Stalin. The series probes his life, his political thought, his ruthlessness, and his flair for surrounding himself with sycophants—evil geniuses in their own right such as Goebbels and Göring—who did his bidding.

The story is told primarily through the reports of American war correspondent William L. Shirer who came as close as any foreign national to witness Hitler’s rise to power. Audio from his radio broadcasts (sometimes, unfortunately, “recreated” by AI—hey, guys—hire actors!) and extensive film and audio from the Nuremberg trials (most of which has never been heard or seen before) ground the series, ultimately making it compulsive and necessary viewing.

When the documentary turns to its talking heads, however, we are treated to academics who are clearly making comparisons between Hitler and Donald J. Trump. Not one, but many of the interviewees portray Hitler’s campaign as “Make Germany Great Again.” Perhaps that’s true, but every time this is mentioned, you find yourself scoffing at such blatant attempts at making connections from the ‘30s and ‘40s with our present day in an election year. Whatever your feelings about Trump, the way the term “Hitler” is thrown around to just about anyone we don’t like is as tired a trope as revealing it was all a dream at the end of a movie.

That being said, there were stories of the Holocaust I had never heard before or seen portrayed—Himmler, himself a maniac, becoming disgusted at watching the compulsory mass shootings of Jewish civilians prior to the creation of the death camps, a deep dive into the feelings of Germany after bearing the brunt of World War I on its back, and the despicable “answers” given by top Nazi officials at the trials themselves who keep passing the buck: “We were only taking orders.” Perhaps they were, but they obviously could not live with what they had done for the few who were not killed in war or hanged took the easy way out—suicide by cyanide capsule.

On the whole, if you have a strong stomach, I encourage you to watch it. There is always trepidation when I approach a Holocaust film. One wonders if the magnitude of the carnage could ever or should be visually demonstrated. And, yet there is enough in this series to recommend that I would say it is perhaps Berlinger’s best work since he lost his collaborative partner.