10 Underrated Sci-Fi Sequels (That Deserve Way More Love)
They may not have been perfect, but they weren't as bad as you think...
The science fiction genre has gifted cinema with some of the most unique, innovative and downright greatest films of all time. Whether it be the creativity involved in the ideas that they explore or just our innate desire to be entertained by the unknown, audiences have lapped up sci-fi films as though there were literally no tomorrow (a concept not too foreign to this very genre).
Given their popularity, it's hardly surprising that these thought-provoking films end up spawning follow-ups that attempt to further the theories and scares put forward in their predecessors.
If history has taught us anything, it's that sci-fi sequels tend to go one of two ways. On one hand, they fail to recapture that magic and just end up pointlessly recycling a format that wasn't built to last beyond one film, or they end up living up to their iconic predecessor - and in some cases, even exceeding it. Unfortunately, in most cases it's the latter, as phenomenal films tend to spawn a truck-load of mediocre-to-awful sequels in an attempt to recreate magic that just isn't there.
That being said, in and among those failures are a number of underrated classics that tried something different and never got the reception they deserved. With that in mind, let's meet these underappreciated gems...
10. The Predator
Like the Terminator franchise, Fox's Predator film series found itself in a constant state of redevelopment as the studio attempted to relaunch it multiple times following Predator 2. And after the two AVP films and an attempted 2010 reboot, we got the heavily-anticipated Shane Black-helmed The Predator in 2018. Unfortunately for it, the film received mixed to negative reviews and, once again, the franchise remains in limbo.
The Predator, however, wasn't all bad. In fact, some of it was actually really interesting, as the war between the original hunters and the new breed of Super Predators delved into the Yautja's origins in a way that previous films had not, allowing audiences to get to know the iconic aliens that little bit better.
On top of that, there were a lot of genuinely great action sequences and, although the final act was highly derivative of the whole first film, it still made for quite the nail-biting watch.
Not the best Predator movie out there, but certainly not the worst either.