As mentioned in last week's column - Five Videogame Franchises That Peaked at thei Second Installment - there are a lot of movie series that I think peaked with their second entry. Since I rolled off a lot of examples on that column, I figured I'd expand on them here.
Honourable Mentions: Christopher Nolan's Batman Trilogy, Superman, Blade, X-Men, the prequel X-Men trilogy, Indiana Jones
#5. Alien (Peak: Aliens)
The original Alien movie was a fantastic sci-fi horror movie pitting Ripley and her crew against one Xenomorph that they'd accidentally brought on board their ship. The second switched that up and featured a host of marines teaming with Ripley to face an army of Xenomorphs and culminated in Ripley jumping in some crane armour to battle a giant Alien queen. It was epic from start to finish. It was also easily the peak of the franchise. The follow-up, Alien3, was essentially the same plot as the first one except on a prison planet and the fourth - Resurrection - can easily be ignored. The two modern takes starting with Prometheus didn't beat the second outing either.
#4. Batman (1989+ Series, Peak: Batman Returns)
Both of the Michael Keaton Batman movies were fantastic. That's not news to anyone. After Batman Returns was deemed too dark to sell toys and McDonalds complained (they'd produced Happy Meal Batman toys to tie in with the movie then saw the film and realised it wasn't for kids) the franchise became more and more cartoony with the follow-up, Batman Forever and then Batman & Robin. The fact that Michael Keaton is set to return to the role nearly 30 years after his last portrayal speaks volumes to how awesome he was as the Dark Knight. Returns had it all: A great story, great visuals, Michelle Phieffer in a skin-tight PVC catsuit, Danny DeVito as a dark and twisted Penguin, Michelle Phieffer in a skin-tight PVC catsuit, easter eggs of The Flash and other golden age heroes, Michelle Phieffer in a skin-tight PVC catsuit and, most importantly, Michelle Phieffer in a skin-tight PVC catsuit.
#3. Terminator (Peak: Terminator 2 Judgment Day)
This is an incredibly easy pick. Seriously. Anyone who has seen this film and then anything after will easily agree. Now, granted, it could be argued that the original Terminator movie was the peak but for me, T2 was a fantastic follow-up. We got to see John Connor running from his destiny, a reprogrammed Terminator sent to protect him and one of the most badass women in movie history, Sarah Connor. Sarah had gone from the victim and damsel in distress in the first film to a tough-as-nails badass prepared for anything in the sequel. Good times!
#2. Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (Peak: Spider-Man 2)
Up until the release of Infinity War, it was a given that Spider-Man 2 was the greatest Marvel movie of all time. This film had everything - a believable villain, a great story, a logical follow-up to the predecessor, and some of the coolest visuals ever seen in a comic book movie (I.e. that fantastic train scene). The follow-up to this in Spider-Man 3 wasn't bad but is viewed as bad because of how good this movie was.
#1. Star Wars (Peak: Empire Strikes Back)
I love Star Wars. Love it. However, I do think the second instalment of the franchise, The Empire Strikes Back, is not only the best Star Wars movie but one of the best movies of all time. The film showed that the good guys didn't always have to win - the end saw Luke learn that Vader was his father and lose his hand, Han got frozen in carbonite and the Empire looked stronger than ever after destroying the rebel base at the beginning of the film. This was a perfect set-up film for the next one but out-shines every Star Wars movie in the franchise because of it's strong story and series of down notes to end the film.
So that's my list, thanks for taking the time to read it and please let me know what your top 5 are in the comments section!
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