10 Movie Franchises With No Bad Sequels
The John Wick series is PERFECT from start to end.
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00:00 This is WhatCulture, and here are 10 Movie Franchises With No Bad Sequels.
00:05 10.
00:06 Lethal Weapon
00:07 Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon 2 are about as close to perfect action movies as you can
00:12 get if you aren't John McTiernan or Woo.
00:15 The first is a surprisingly gritty cop drama mired in the legacies of Vietnam from Shane
00:20 Black and Richard Donner, while the Jeffrey Boehm-led second is basically the best buddy
00:25 cop fun vibes movie ever.
00:27 I mean, come on, how many times have you washed along and done the whole "DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY"?
00:32 It's just been revoked with Murtaugh at the end.
00:36 Finales just don't get any better.
00:38 Lethal Weapons 3 and 4, comparatively, are not as good.
00:42 However, just because they're not Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon 2 levels of good
00:46 does not mean that they are bad.
00:48 There's a lot to enjoy about both, particularly if you're already endeared to Riggs and
00:53 Murtaugh.
00:54 The industry carries a lot of the current Final 2 Lethal Weapon movies, but there are
00:58 also fun new additions in Rene Russo's Lorna Cole and Chris Rock's budders in Lethal
01:04 Weapon 3 and Lethal Weapon 4, respectively.
01:06 They're both clumsy entries, no doubt, but if you enjoy hanging with the boys - the boys
01:12 in this case being Riggs and Murtaugh - then they still provide a fitting send-off.
01:16 9.
01:17 Scream
01:18 There are no bad Scream movies.
01:20 There may be some Scream movies that I like less than others, but there are no bad Scream
01:25 movies.
01:26 I don't think the latest sequels match the lofty heights of the first two - and for reference,
01:30 Scream 2 is my fave of the bunch - but they each bring something fun and unique to the
01:35 table.
01:36 Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson's original film is a smart but loving slasher sound-up,
01:42 while Scream 2 applies that formula to sequels.
01:45 Scream 3, despite having one of the weakest final acts in the entire series, is secretly
01:50 a great little neo-noir that acts as a prescient takedown of Hollywood and the literal people
01:55 it paved over to get where it is.
01:58 It also gave us the gift of Parker Posey as Jennifer Jolie, probably the best supporting
02:02 character not from the original two films.
02:04 Scream 4, on the other hand, is dated in some respects and grimly cynical, but it makes
02:09 up for that in inventive set-pieces and a considered if cringey meditation on new media
02:15 as streaming and social media were first exploding.
02:18 Scream 2022 was a good legacy sequel, and Scream 6, while suffering from another weak
02:23 finale, makes up for it with some of the nastiest chases and kills in the entire series.
02:29 8.
02:30 Rocky
02:31 Yep, all the Rocky movies are good.
02:33 Even Adrian's Revenge.
02:34 When Rocky 5 exists, saying that none of the Rocky movies are bad is going to be a tough
02:39 sell.
02:40 However, that movie also sees Sylvester Stallone street fight one of the biggest a-holes in
02:45 the entire franchise in the street, and I will defy anyone not to revert to their primordial
02:50 "kill, kill, kill" form when Sly gets back up and says "I hear no bell".
02:55 Cinema it may not be, but it is most definitely cinema.
02:59 The first two Rocky movies are amazing showcases for Sly's talents, a thoughtful examination
03:04 of the American Dream from a uniquely working-class perspective.
03:07 They're emblematic of a filmic era that was vibrant, gritty and unsure.
03:13 In other words, they're 70s all over.
03:16 Rocky 3 and Rocky 4 however, are completely the opposite.
03:19 They're 80s to a T, presenting montage-laden heroic struggles between good and evil, where
03:25 Rocky is the best, and all of his problems can be solved with boxing.
03:29 Rocky 5 attempts to reign this back in somewhat, somehow yielding even more ridiculous results
03:35 in the process, but they're all still a fun time.
03:38 That's partially down to how much I love Rocky as a character.
03:41 I'll always be rooting for the Italian Stallion, even if his next movie was a charity
03:46 match with Superman or something equally ridiculous.
03:49 This was pretty much the opposite direction Stallone ended up taking things though, with
03:52 the Rocky series getting a second lease on life thanks to the reflective 2007 entry Rocky
03:58 Balboa, and by far the best legacy sequel we've ever gotten in Creed, which has also
04:04 yet to make a misstep with any of its sequels.
04:07 Bloody love Rocky me.
04:09 7.
04:10 Bourne
04:11 Despite the Bourne legacy and 2016's Jason Bourne lacking the oomph of the Doug Liman
04:16 and Paul Greengrass originals - they're merely okay compared to the gritty class of
04:21 the first three films - they aren't weak enough to take the shine off the series overall.
04:26 The Bourne movies, particularly the latter two entries in the original trilogy from director
04:30 Paul Greengrass, have experienced a bit of pushback in recent years for popularising
04:35 the shaky cam fight scene trend.
04:37 However, Greengrass' frenetic style of filmmaking still looks great, and isn't
04:43 used as a crutch to mask poorly choreographed action.
04:46 That said, I do find myself revisiting the Liman original more than Supremacy or Ultimatum.
04:51 There's a tense, methodical edge to it that I feel better utilises Tony Gilroy and William
04:56 Blake Heron's script, but either way, those first three films are all great.
05:01 Yeah, Legacy was a weird attempt at doing a spin-off, and the 2016 Jason Bourne feels
05:06 totally superfluous as a sequel, but Bourne itself has never trudged into bad movie territory.
05:13 Number 6 - Evil Dead
05:15 Sam Raimi's original Evil Dead trilogy is pretty much perfect.
05:19 A spectacular, maximalist blend of horror, comedy and action that announced the filmmaker
05:24 and star Bruce Campbell to the world.
05:26 The Evil Dead might be the greatest indie horror movie of all time, extracting all the
05:31 terror and fun possible out of a budget of $375,000.
05:36 Raimi innovated on this formula with Evil Dead 2, which upped the slapstick elements
05:40 of the previous film and cemented Ash Williams as a horror icon.
05:44 Army of Darkness flipped the wheel even further, with Raimi developing a medieval adventure
05:49 comedy where Ash battles the Deadites in a bid to return to the present day.
05:52 Although not guided by Raimi, the 2013 Evil Dead from Fede Alvarez was a rip-roaringly
05:57 good time that upped the body horror and scares, albeit at the expense of some laughs.
06:02 It's not the same beast as the original Evil Dead films, but it's still a great
06:06 entry in the series, and one that has been followed up expertly with Lee Cronin's
06:10 Evil Dead Rise.
06:11 Throw in a fun TV show in Ash vs. The Evil Dead, and you're left with probably the
06:16 most consistently great horror franchise ever created.
06:19 Number 5 - The Matrix
06:21 Now I've got to hold my hands up here.
06:23 I was wrong about the Matrix sequels.
06:25 For the longest time, I was one of those guys that was like "The CGI is bad, the romance
06:30 is boring, the only good bit is the highway chase."
06:34 Bad takes from a man who had clearly lost his way.
06:37 Thankfully, before seeing The Matrix Resurrections in 2021, I decided to go ahead and revisit
06:42 the entire series start to finish.
06:45 The original Matrix is still the Wachowskis' magnum opus, one of the finest action films
06:50 ever produced that reset the genre landscape.
06:52 The Matrix Reloaded, and to a lesser extent, The Matrix Evolutions, are still worthy, artfully
06:58 crafted follow-ups, replete with great set pieces, Carrie-Anne Moss on a motorcycle,
07:03 and lots of Hugo Weaving doing this.
07:06 The Matrix Resurrections is my favourite sequel in the series, though.
07:10 Helmed by Lana Wachowski alone this time, Resurrections is the cherry on top of the
07:14 proverbial Matrix cake, reiterating what the story means to Wachowski, and how ultimately,
07:20 that's all that really matters.
07:21 Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss are magnetic once again, and while the lack of Laurence
07:26 Fishburne and Hugo Weaving is noticeable, new additions Yaya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica
07:31 Henwick and Jonathan Goff are all brilliant.
07:34 Give it another ten years, and everyone will be kicking themselves for not appreciating
07:38 this masterpiece the same way they did the first sequels from the early 2000s.
07:42 Number 4 - Indiana Jones
07:44 Look, right, I already know folks are going to be rolling their eyes at this entry because
07:47 Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the Mutt Williams of it all, but I cannot bring myself
07:52 to call that movie bad.
07:53 Disappointing?
07:54 Unquestionably, given how superb the first three Indiana Jones films are.
07:58 But it's not a diabolical misstep the same way The Rise of Skywalker was for Star Wars,
08:03 or The Predator was for Predator.
08:04 CGI gophers be damned, it's not that much of a departure stylistically or narratively
08:10 from what came before, and I would argue taking a sci-fi bent for a Roswell-era adventure
08:16 was a fitting choice from Steven Spielberg.
08:18 As far as the original trilogy is concerned, I think that Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple
08:22 of Doom and The Last Crusade are all about on par with each other, with the latter most
08:26 entry winning out for me thanks to the chemistry between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.
08:31 Temple tends to take some flack on account of Willie being a shrill love interest, but
08:36 its dark inflections and location work cement it as a great follow-up to Raiders.
08:41 The jury is still out on Dial of Destiny at the time of recording, and while its trailers
08:46 haven't put an extremely confident foot forward, James Mangold hasn't let me down
08:50 so far.
08:51 It's hoping that Indy's final crack at the whip is worth it.
08:55 3.
08:56 Mad Max
08:57 Quintessential apocalypse.
08:58 George Miller's Mad Max series is brilliantly madcap, practical effects heavy and deliciously
09:04 ugly.
09:05 It's also one of the few series out there not to take a misstep with four films to its
09:09 name.
09:10 The original Mad Max is a bleak, thoroughly 70s affair that lacks the fun factor of its
09:15 success, but it's no less compelling.
09:17 Mad Max 2 is essentially Wacky Races, but if Peter Perfect wielded a coach gun and Dick
09:22 Dastedly was machine-gunning Professor Pat Pending, the third entry, Beyond Thunderdome,
09:27 cemented the overall vibe and aesthetic of Miller's Australian wasteland.
09:31 Fury Road's lessons imparted by all three of those movies to deliver were the greatest
09:36 efforts in the action genre, and with Miller currently developing a prequel that'll expand
09:40 the origins of Furiosa, the good money is on the series continuing its winning streak.
09:45 2.
09:46 Mission Impossible
09:47 There are no bad Mission Impossible movies.
09:49 I don't particularly care for the third one, which I know is sacrilege given the performance
09:53 Philip Seymour Hoffman gives in there, but J.J. Abrams' direction can't compete with
09:57 masters like De Palma or Woo, who by all accounts knocked it out of the park for the first two
10:02 instalments.
10:03 Like Mad Max, however, this is a series that has improved with time.
10:07 2011's Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol by Brad Bird was brilliantly inventive, while
10:12 filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie took things to a whole other level with the 2015 and 2018
10:16 entries Mission Impossible Rogue Nation and Fallout.
10:19 These films have cemented Tom Cruise as a true "movies man" ambassador, accomplishing
10:25 all kinds of wild stunts and taking time between shoots to emphasise the importance of the
10:29 cinema as a venue.
10:31 Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning, which is set to release later this summer, looks like
10:35 it'll continue this trend.
10:37 1.
10:38 John Wick
10:39 John Wick might be the most consistently brilliant film series going, with each entry laying
10:44 just claim to being the best of the bunch.
10:46 The first John Wick serves as a solid revenge flick, but with the added ace up its sleeve
10:51 of a gripping, emotional narrative, the hints of a fascinating underworld, and direction
10:56 from veteran Hollywood stunt coordinator Chad Stahelski.
10:58 Like Born Before It, John Wick put the action genre on a new course, emphasising efficient,
11:04 actor-cool choreography, bisexual lighting, and a loud, relentless pace punctuated by fitting
11:10 needle drops and the grindy, electronic notes of Tyler Bates.
11:14 Every John Wick enjoyer will have their own preferred entry.
11:17 I think two is my fave, but John Wick Chapter 3 Parabellum and John Wick Chapter 4 are both
11:23 exceptional.
11:24 That said, this is also a series that continues to go from strength to strength.
11:27 There's a pattern of escalation that has scenes Stahelski and lead star Keanu Reeves
11:32 test their limits when it comes to what they can accomplish, whether that's through elaborately
11:36 choreographed duels with dragon's breath shotguns, horseback chase sequences, or passive-aggressive
11:42 exchanges of silenced gunfire.
11:44 This series reads like a love letter to action cinema, and while it remains to be seen if
11:48 it is indeed the end, it's hard to think of a better signature than Chapter 4.
11:53 And those were 10 Movie Franchises With No Bad Sequels.
11:56 I know for a fact this is going to cause some discussion in the comments below, so please
12:00 do let me know if you feel like I missed anything, or if there are some franchises here you don't
12:05 think are worthy of the No Bad Sequels crown.
12:08 If you enjoyed this video, please be sure to drop us a like as it really does help us
12:11 out, and if you're new and fancy more, why not hit the cheeky little subscribe button
12:15 too?
12:16 Either way, I've been Ewan, this has been WildCulture, and I will catch you in the next
12:20 video.