Sequels and why they don't always suck.

Well tomorrow is going to be a great day. I have Smallville on at eight and then I go see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at midnight. I have been looking forward to this movie all year. And ever since "reading" the books I have been even more excited. Of course I put reading in quotes because I actually listened to them. I have all the audio books and listen while I work my ten and a half hour days. This promises to be the best of the series. These movies just actually keep getting better. This kind of puts a rest to people who like to say that sequels are never better than the original. I can argue that for hours and I have on many occasions. People who say that usually haven't seen any of the movies that I point out as examples. My first example will always be Frankenstein and it's sequel The Bride of Frankenstein. Two great movies, but the second is much better than the original in my opinion. And it will be hard for you to find someone who doesn't like The Godfather Part II as much, if not more than The Godfather. Of course if you want to go more recent, just look at X-Men and X-Men 2 or the greatest superhero movie ever made Spider-man and Spider-man 2. I mean Sam Raimi as the director on the Spider-Man movies is amazing. The movies have all the elements of a good independent movie, with a crapload of effects. I mean you got great acting, great direction, great effects, and a great story. Something that is usually lacking from today's blockbusters. I am going to go back again, sorry for jumping around. I think Superman II is just as good as Superman: The Movie. Of course 70 percent of part II was shot by the original director of the first movie. He was subsequently fired and they hired someone new to reshoot most of the film and add his own story. Then of course is the Harry Potter series. I wasn't too crazy about the first two. I mean I liked them a lot, but they weren't very true to the book. The third one benefitted from a new director. He gave the film a new look and a grittiness. For Goblet of Fire they have a new director, a British director. Now if you ask me, that is what the series needed a long time ago. I actually had heard they wanted Terry Gilliam for the first movie. That would have been great. I mean look at the facts...British Author, British Cast...why not a British director. It took them until the fourth movie to get one. I think he has a better grasp on what school is like for a British student. Anyways, I digress, there are also examples of sequels gone awry. The most recent would be The Matrix, which I thought was a fine movie. Then the sequels came...they got progressively worse. I mean you had a fairly simple movie, and then they come out with a sequel and try to force feed you this whole universe. It was like trying to compact all six Star Wars Films into two sequels. Of course don't get me started on Star Wars. Anyhow, I could write a book, so I am going to go. If anybody has an opinion, be sure to share it. Or if you have exmaples of good or bad sequels I would love to hear them.