10 Most Shockingly Improved Movie Sequels

Die Hard 2: Die Harder admittedly had the unenviable task of following up one of the greatest action films of all time, and to the surprise of few it didn't quite cut the mustard.

It's a totally decent sequel with some solid action and another brilliantly wise-cracking performance from Bruce Willis as John McClane, but it falls far short of what came before and can't help but feel like a generic action blockbuster script that got morphed into a Die Hard sequel after-the-fact.

But the third film, Die Hard with a Vengeance, was a major breath of fresh air; witty, energetic, brilliantly directed, and benefitting hugely from the interplay between Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jeremy Irons.

It certainly helps that the first film's director, John McTiernan, returned to tackle Die Hard 3, which blew apart the "trapped in a ___" formula of the first two movies for a brilliantly tense, fast-paced cat-and-mouse game across New York City.

Even though Die Hard 2 bafflingly has a higher Tomatometer score, the fan consensus easily places the third far above it, and rightly so.