10 Wildly Unnecessary Movie Sequels That Were Awesome Anyway
Was Die Hard With A Vengeance needed? No. Was it great? Big time!
As film fans, we've all been there: popcorn in hand, eagerly waiting for the trailers to come on and make us wish we'd rather be watching that than the film we're about to watch. Lo and behold, one comes on that fills us with anger and dread, followed by a loud exclaim of "Why are they doing another one?"
Not every film needs a sequel, and with Hollywood studios becoming increasingly keen to turn any moderate hit into a franchise, it's usually us fans who have to deal with their lackluster follow-ups.
Whether it's because there's nowhere left for the story to go, it's been too long since the original came out or it simply wasn't that good, there's many reasons why making a new entry is a bad idea. It doesn't stop Hollywood from trying though, with forced installments consistently being among the worst of any given year.
However, the silver screen never fails to surprise us every so often. In the endless slate of remakes and sequels, sometimes one comes along that truly surprises us. These cinematic diamonds in the rough had the odds stacked against them and somehow delivered anyway...
10. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Despite having one of the last true action stars still at the helm, there was not much hype for a new Mission Impossible film back in 2011. The previous film was 5 years old by now and seemed to leave the trilogy on a high note. Hollywood's track record with fourth entries didn't make for good reading either.
Besides, what was there left to do in a spy film that hasn't been done before?
But then the trailer with Tom Cruise hanging off the tallest building in the world came out. Our curiosities piqued, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that the film wasn't just good, it was great. The action scenes alone were not only beautiful to look at, but relentlessly thrilling.
With a cast around Cruise that complements him perfectly, and a fantastic ability to build suspense, this was an excellent live-action debut for Brad Bird, who previously gave us the animated classics The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles. The fact that it already has two worthy sequels, with more on the way, Ghost Protocol shows just how good a spy thriller can really be.