sequel
The Two Jakes may be an inferior sequel to Chinatown, but this Jack Nicholson-directed follow up is more intriguing than its reputation suggests.
Where Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Oddysey was visionary and original, 2010: The Year We Make Contact failed to compete with the monolith that casts quite a shadow.
Incredibles 2, while being entertaining in its own right, often feels like a film with a conflicting message, and one that gets muddled up in the process.
The Equalizer 2 takes the raw entertainment value of the original film, inverts it into something unflinchingly brutal, removes the quirks of its main character, and builds to an anticlimactic final battle.
Filled to the brim with a talented cast and with wonderful dance sequences, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is as lovely and vivacious as the original.
It’s hard not to think of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom as just a rinse-repeat of nearly every other film in this now 25-year-old franchise.
A fun-filled flick with an all-star cast of charismatic ladies having a blast; Ocean’s 8 is a stylish follow-up that captures the spirit of the original trilogy while still doing its own thing.
Incredibles 2 is a fast-moving, heartfelt, gorgeous, well-acted, tightly-plotted, and funny movie that left the need for another sequel, which will hopefully be released sooner than 2032.
While many found the 2017 release of Blade Runner 2049 to be misogynistic, the perceived sexism within the film may be more than meets the eye as the movie turns out to express anxiety about the past and not the future and an avoidance of human society.
Failing to bring anything new the second time around, Pacific Rim: Uprising suffers from an identity crisis with little chance to rise up from its cinematic shortfalls to save itself.
With sophisticated cinematography and aesthetics, The Strangers: Prey at Night and its moody semblance of survival preserves dread just enough to deserve its place in slasher cinema.
From box office cash-ins to long gestating labors of love, there are several different types of sequels. Zac Hestand explores which formulas make sequels worth the wait- and which leave you wishing the story would be over and done with.
Should future encores of Pitch Perfect take the stage, we can only hope they have a little more verve and imagination than this one.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a surprising treat, modernizing the original film while also creating a fun, lively action-adventure.
Matthew Vaughn’s sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle is narratively unfocused but still contains enough excitement to keep you invested.