10 Recent Movie Sequels That Blew Away Expectations And Were Great

There are some movie sequels which elicit groans when they are announced, but not all of these sequels turn out as poorly as expected. As Hollywood has accelerated the trend of producing sequels to beloved movies, many people have grown tired of seeing a lack of originality. When some recent sequels were announced, they were immediately dismissed as unwarranted cash-grabs, although there have been a few surprises.

Legacy sequels tend to come under more intense scrutiny than most other sequels, since fans of the original movies sometimes feel that their favorites are being tampered with. Other surprising sequels in recent years have been those that massively surpassed audience expectations by taking a huge step-up in quality from the movies that came before them. Sequels are generally derided, but they can be just as worthy as any movie if they are executed with care and passion.

10 Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Sequel to Top Gun (1986)

Top Gun is a good time, but its simple charms don’t extend much further than that. The paper-thin substance behind the movie’s extravagant, head-banging style doesn’t exactly lend itself to a sequel, and so Top Gun remained a standalone action movie for decades. Top Gun: Maverick does a lot of work to differentiate itself from the original, and it’s a much more interesting and dramatic movie as a result.

One of Top Gun‘s main strengths is its thrilling aerial scenes, but Top Gun: Maverick improves on these tenfold. It also focuses a lot more on how the characters interact with one another while they’re on the ground, building a more compelling human story that lends added heft to the action. Top Gun has developed a nostalgic appeal since the 1980s, so Top Gun: Maverick had to bring things up to date.

9 Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Sequel to Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner tells a perfectly contained story, so there was never any immediate need for a sequel. The mediocre box office returns of the original meant that there also wasn’t any financial incentive, so Blade Runner remained a brilliant slice of standalone sci-fi for decades. News of the Blade Runner sequel was met with a lot of skepticism, especially when it was announced that Ridley Scott wouldn’t be the one in the director’s chair.

News of the
Blade Runner
sequel was met with a lot of skepticism, especially when it was announced that Ridley Scott wouldn’t be the one in the director’s chair.

Denis Villeneuve has steadily been establishing himself as one of the most interesting directors in the sci-fi genre over the last decade or so, and he proved to be the perfect choice for Blade Runner 2049. He brings his own unique touches to the legacy sequel, but he respects Ridley Scott’s intricate worldbuilding and his film noir inspirations. Other directors might seek to make Blade Runner into a spectacle, but Villeneuve recognizes its appeal as a detective story. The upcoming TV series Blade Runner 2099 serves as proof that Blade Runner 2049 paved the way for a viable future for the franchise.

8 Halloween (2018)

Sequel to Halloween (1978)

The Halloween franchise’s continuity can be a little confusing for newcomers. 2018’s Halloween is the eleventh movie in total, and the third to be titled Halloween, but it acts as a direct sequel to the 1978 original, ignoring the events of every movie that came out in the intervening 40 years. This could have been another reboot and another retcon in a franchise that has struggled to sort itself out, but 2018’s Halloween turned out to be a big hit.

Rather than adding another layer of confusion to things,
Halloween
simplifies the entire franchise by bringing it back to basics.

Rather than adding another layer of confusion to things, Halloween simplifies the entire franchise by bringing it back to basics. Once again, Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode is on the run from Michael Myers, and that’s all that fans need to know to enjoy the sequel. This simplified approach allowed Halloween to bring in a new audience, and it set up an entire trilogy, revitalizing the franchise when it seemed stuck in a loop.

7 Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Sequel to Puss in Boots (2011)

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish spent years in development hell, which can often be a bad omen for any movie, let alone a sequel. By the time it eventually came out in 2022, the Shrek franchise was long dead, and there hadn’t been a Puss in Boots movie for 11 years. The ideal time for another Puss in Boots sequel seemed like it had come and gone years ago, but The Last Wish revived the franchise in style.

The Last Wish
is the best movie in the
Shrek
franchise since 2004’s
Shrek 2.

Ultimately, the long gap between sequels ended up benefiting The Last Wish. It has a fresh animation style that would have been unthinkable a decade earlier, and it’s also much funnier and more exciting than its predecessor. The Last Wish is the best movie in the Shrek franchise since 2004’s Shrek 2, which introduced the daring feline. Its success is one reason to be hopeful about the prospects of the upcoming Shrek 5.

6 Creed (2015)

Sequel to Rocky Balboa (2006)

The Rocky franchise never quite recaptured the brilliance of the first movie. Throughout its many ups and downs, the franchise gradually seemed to run out of energy and fresh ideas. 2006’s Rocky Balboa would have been a good point to end things once and for all. It serves as a fitting send-off to the title character, and it also shows one last glimpse of what the franchise should be remembered for, even if it isn’t the very best entry.

While it easily could have been a limp legacy sequel,
Creed
turned out to be the best
Rocky
movie since the 1976 original.

2015’s Creed acts as a reboot and a sequel, allowing the franchise to focus on a younger character while still benefiting from Sylvester Stallone’s presence as Rocky Balboa. While it easily could have been a limp legacy sequel, Creed turned out to be the best Rocky movie since the 1976 original. This is partly because Stallone has the humility to take a back seat to Michael B. Jordan, who rises to the challenge.

5 Paddington 2 (2017)

Sequel to Paddington (2014)

The first Paddington movie is a delightful family comedy that brings a beloved book character to life, but the sequel surpasses it in every way imaginable. Paddington 2 has been hailed as one of the greatest movies of all time. While some of this praise is a little tongue-in-cheek, Paddington 2 definitely deserves a place in the conversation as one of the best children’s movies of recent years.

The team behind Paddington 2 stepped things up for the sequel.Paddington 2 retains the same funny dialogue and risible physical humor that gave the first movie its identity, but everything seems more refined. The final chase scene on the train ties every subplot together wonderfully, as the Brown family come together to rescue Paddington and stop Hugh Grant’s entertaining villain, Phoenix Buchanan.

4 Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Sequel to Mary Poppins (1964)

Mary Poppins is a classic family musical, overflowing with the magic and warmth that characterized Disney movies of the era. Although there were sequels to P. L. Travers’ novel, the movie remained untouched for decades. This seemed like it was probably for the best, since a sequel would be almost impossible to pull off. When Mary Poppins Returns was announced, many people saw it as another cash-grab, not too dissimilar from Disney’s uninspired live-action remakes of animated classics.

With Emily Blunt replacing Julie Andrews,
Mary Poppins Returns
defied expectations to become an unexpected hit.

With Emily Blunt replacing Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins Returns defied expectations to become an unexpected hit. With a batch of new songs to suit the sequel’s new identity, Mary Poppins Returns recaptures the same sense of playful mischief. It even has an animated sequence just like the original and a role for Dick Van Dyke, who looks remarkably spry. Despite these similarities, Mary Poppins Returns doesn’t live in the shadow of its predecessor.

3 Doctor Sleep (2019)

Sequel to The Shining (1980)

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is the kind of perfect movie that shouldn’t be toyed with. Any reboot or remake would invariably come up short when compared to the original, so a sequel seemed doomed to suffer the same fate. Ultimately, Mike Flanagan’s intelligent approach meant that Doctor Sleep was able to avoid too many direct comparisons, since it pays homage to The Shining while telling its own story.

Flanagan stated that he wanted to reconcile the differences between Kubrick’s movie and Stephen King’s book. King also wrote Doctor Sleep, the book on which Flanagan’s movie is based, and he sticks to King’s ideas more faithfully than Kubrick ever did. Doctor Sleep remains an underappreciated gem, and fans of The Shining should give it a chance, even if the idea of a sequel may have seemed ludicrous not too long ago.

2 Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Sequel to Thor: The Dark World (2013)

After the Thor franchise got off to a solid start, it faltered a little with Thor: The Dark World. Something special was needed to halt the downward trajectory, and this is just what Taika Waititi brought to Thor: Ragnarok. The threequel is much funnier, more colorful and more exciting than either of the two movies which came before it. Before Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi was best known for his work on indie comedies in New Zealand, and he didn’t compromise his style to fit with the MCU.

Something special was needed to halt the downward trajectory, and this is just what Taika Waititi brought to
Thor: Ragnarok.

Waititi’s style makes Thor: Ragnarok unlike anything else in the MCU at the time, and it provides the breath of fresh air that the Thor franchise needed to reinvent itself. Although Ragnarok is funnier and lighter than other Thor movies, it doesn’t neglect its duty to its audience, and it delivers plenty of thrilling action scenes. Cate Blanchett’s villain Hela is a bonus in this regard, as is the unconventional portrayal of Hulk. The upcoming Thor 5 will inevitably be compared to the success of Ragnarok.

1 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Sequel to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Mad Max: Fury Road faced the daunting prospect of reviving the franchise after 30 years, and it would have to do so without Mel Gibson in the lead role. Since George Miller had spent the intervening years directing movies like Babe and Happy Feet, some wondered whether he would be able to deliver the goods. Fortunately, Mad Max: Fury Road surpassed all expectations, becoming the franchise’s most thrilling entry yet.

Mad Max: Fury Road
faced the daunting prospect of reviving the franchise after 30 years, and it would have to do so without Mel Gibson in the lead role.

Tom Hardy manages to be intense and captivating as Max Rockatansky without being given too much dialogue. He spends long periods of the movie trapped in an iron mask, which illustrates Fury Road‘s paramount commitment to exhilarating action. Fury Road is one of the best action movies of the 21st century, partly because it blends cutting-edge CGI with old-fashioned practical stunts so expertly. Fury Road should have signaled a new dawn for the franchise, but it seems unlikely that Mad Max: The Wasteland will ever happen now.