Sequel still gets treated as a dirty word in cinema, despite the days when any part two was immediately expected to be utter tat well and truly behind us. Sure, plenty of movies get follow ons that appear to made by people who haven't even seen the original, but in terms of big franchises a new entry is normally something to be praised. Marvel, How To Train Your Dragon and X-Men are all beloved series that have this year alone released sequels more than worthy of their name. Heck, we wrote an article just the other week looking at franchises that actually got better as they went along. Quite why this happens (and also why sequels to less blockbusting movies tend to not be an improvement) is that, unlike when sequels were for peanuts to cash-in a little on some scant brand recognition, studios put a lot of stock in an existing name and the merchandising it can conjure up. For the first time there's a vested interest to make the movies actually good, rather than just throwing them at the screen and going "there ya go". Today, however, we're looking the other way - those series that, while not necessarily sinking to terrible depth, never managed to capture their initial brilliance again. Sorry for the downer.
