10 Movie Franchises That Surprisingly Got Better

3. The Before Trilogy

Richard Linklater's irresistible 1995 romantic drama Before Sunrise was one of the most evocative and unforgettable films of the 1990s, but it could so easily have been a single, standalone film about two youngsters, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), falling in love over the course of a single night.

Linklater dared to try his luck with a sequel nine years later, and miraculously enough, Before Sunset was even better, offering up a deeply romantic and visually stunning meditation on growing up and the compromises that come with simply living life.

And while the film's brilliant cliffhanger ending could've been the final word on the pair, Linklater picked up their story yet again another nine years later with 2013's Before Midnight, which re-examined their relationship through the lens of middle-age existential ennui.

With its darker and more challenging pallor, the threequel took the emotional resonance of the series to new heights, allowing Hawke and Delpy to deliver arguably the finest performances of their careers in the process.

Obviously, the series has always been great, but Linklater set such a high standard for himself from the outset that few could've anticipated he'd manage to up himself so consistently.

Whether or not a fourth film abounds in 2022, the constant uptick here is staggering.