10 Movie Sequels That Were Way Better Than They Had Any Right To Be

Sequels can be hit-or-miss.

Sometimes they are nothing more than cheap imitations of their predecessor, failing to ever even come close to living up to audience expectations. And sometimes they're immediate classics that build upon the successes and lessons of the prior film(s) to create an even better film.

But one of the most fulfilling experiences a viewer can have with a sequel is to be totally and completely surprised. Whether it be because the first film wasn't particularly great to begin with, or because the first film felt too good to ever have a sequel really live up to it in the first place, being pleasantly surprised by just how good a sequel is can be such a joyous discovery.

When a film like The Incredibles 2 comes out and knocks it out of the park, it isn't all that surprising. In fact, audiences pretty much expect that kind of quality from Pixar and Brad Bird at this point. But one doesn't exactly expect a sequel to Mamma Mia! to be one of the strongest films of the Summer, now do they?

These are the movie sequels that took viewers completely by surprise and wound up being way better than they had any right to be.

Though it may now be remembered as a classic, Sean S. Cunningham's original Friday the 13th is not exactly a great film. In fact, it's a pretty mixed bag, essentially just being an extended ripoff of the work pioneered on films like John Carpenter's Halloween and Bob Clark's Black Christmas.

To top it off, the original Friday ended on an incredibly limp note, with pre-pubescent zombie boy Jason leaping out from the water to grab Alice for the final stinger. Not only was the 'twist' toothless, it was also nonsensical, completely contradicting the entire plot of the film that came before it.

So, when Friday the 13th Part II was cranked out less than a year later, promising to deliver on that set-up, there was little reason to be hopeful. But low and behold, new director Steve Miner delivered a rousing slasher for the ages that eschewed the convoluted mythology of the first film in favor of a simpler red-blooded campfire story.

This is the Friday the 13th film that set the bar for the rest of the series. It established Jason as the primary antagonist, it had more likable and established characters, and developed the formula that would be recycled by the sequels for the next several decades.

It also has maybe the most overt references in the entire franchise to Jason as an old testament-style killer, with him punishing the teens for their sins. Which is infinitely more interesting than Pamela Voorhees' wonky motivations from the first film.