5. More Monsters
Alright, so this one is more of a personal preference, and might not help the quality of the film, depending on what you were hoping to get get out of the original (chaos or drama), but if you want something that could seriously bring up tension, adding an extra monster or two might just appease your demand for satisfaction. While I'm not sure if it would be the same species as was put into the spotlight in the original, or an entirely new creature, but either way, the film was left open-ended enough to suggest that more of these things could show up in future instalments. Of course, if the statements made by the filmmakers are to be believed, a sequel could still be set during the events of it's predecessor, thus, possibly negating this request, but if you considered where the franchise's inspirations lie (Godzilla), you would know that a whole harlem of weird creatures wouldn't be entirely out of the question. But on that note, for the love of God, please, please, PLEASE, don't get conceptual artist Neville Page to design any other creatures. He isn't bad, and in past years, I've admired the guy, but GEEZ, there is something a little...what's the word? Similar, about his concepts:
Super 8:
Cloverfield and Star Trek:
I'm not trying to be bashful, but if you want to try something a little different, you've got to add some variety. If you followed some of the initial designs for the creature in Super 8, you could see all the creative ideas that they used to conceive this other-worldly beast...only to essentially rehash the same figure used for the Cloverfield monster. I mean, it was odd, and definitely unique, at the time, but it wasn't exactly what you would call "awe-inspiring". With all that out of the way, I put this at the bottom of the list because I don't necessarily see this as an essential component of the sequel's success, but rather as a way to help up the interest in it's production, so that audiences know that it won't be just the same old malarkey.