My Favorite Movies

Since we're HUGE Hot Fuzz fans, we really, really wanted to pick Bad Boys 2 as sequel of the year for 2003, but we just couldn't do it. 2003 was a HUGE year for sequels. 13 of the top 50 movies of the year were sequels and there were another five sequels in the top 100. There were a few great moments (X2, bits in the Matrix sequels) and a lot of so-so bombast, but, c'mon, like anything was going to be better than Return of the King. Yes, it had 25 endings and about six too many, but it's going to act as the definition of "epic movie" for the next few decades, so we'll forgive it a few flaws.

Don't let the bad taste that Spidey 3 left in your mouth taint your memory of this one. Spider-Man 2 is one of the greatest superhero movies ever made and, we're afraid, probably the best Spider-Man movie that we're ever going to get. But there was some stiff competition this year - most notably, a strong Jason Bourne sequel and the best Harry Potter movie to date. (We're not counting Kill Bill 2 since it's just the second half of one whole movie.) However, Spidey 2 still pulls ahead thanks to some amazing action sequences (some of the first to really capture the epic scope of comic book superhero throwdowns), strong character moments, and the franchise's best villain yet. Yes, there are a couple of cheesy bits that foreshadowed the ridiculous tone of Spider-Man 3, but, all in all, there's very little you could improve on in Spider-Man 2, Sam Raimi's best sequel since Army of Darkness.

This one might confuse some people. Star Wars fans try desperately to defend Revenge of the Sith as the best of the prequels and, yeah, even we agree that Prisoner of Azkaban is the best Harry Potter movie. So, why did we go with Goblet of Fire? First, Sith sucked (deal with it, nerds) and, second, what else were we going to pick? The Ring Two? Saw 2? XXX: State of the Union? (Before you check, that one totally didn't make the top 50 of 2005.) And, finally, there's a lot to like in Goblet of Fire. The Tri-Wizard Tournament gives the film a great structure, the school dance sequence really sells the humor of being a teenage wizard, and there are some fantastic supporting turns, first and foremost, the killer Ralph Fiennes as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It ain't the best Potter, but it's pretty darn good.

Because, let's be honest, bridging the gap between classic Trek and Trek: The Next Generation was a daunting, thankless task that was bound to fail, so the fact that Generations wasn't half-bad is a lot more impressive than it looks. There's something for everyone to complain about in Generations, but Patrick Stewart gives a surprisingly dark, internal lead performance that makes Shatner look like a rodeo clown in comparison, the death of the Enterprise-D is a fantastic sequence (Data said a swear word!), and Kirk finally falls to his end in a death that's half-touching, half-ridiculous. It ain't Shakespeare (sorry Picard), but it was ambitious and well-intentioned, which raises it FAR above the likes of Major League 2.

Watch Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull back to back and you will definitely see what a difference 19 years makes. Indy and the Last Crusade is a fantastic return to form for Indiana Jones, a film that took everything that didn't work about Temple of Doom and vastly improved upon those flaws. Annoying sidekicks were replaced by Sean Connery, the best addition to the series since the fedora, and Nazis proved that they make much better villains than vaguely racist bogeymen. Plus, and this counts for a lot, Last Crusade is easily the funniest film that Spielberg has ever made.

Two reasons. First, never has a movie sequel so completely, so absurdly deconstructed its original source material. Director Joe Dante bravely chose to use Gremlins 2 to out-and-out mock everything that was earnest, over-serious, and melodramatic about the first Gremlins, and the result is hilarious. It's a Warner Brothers cartoon version of a monster movie and John Glover's performance alone is enough to love it. The second reason? Lack of competition. Every other sequel in 1990 was either an unsuccessful rehash of a much better film (though Predator 2 holds up surprisingly well) or a complete disaster (Godfather 3, Robocop 2, Rocky V, Exorcist 3).

Simply put, almost NO ONE does sequels better than James Cameron, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day is one of the best sequels of all time. It's a technological marvel - which looks less dated than recent big-budget crap like I, Robot - it's got a great script, terrific acting, and it completely trumps the original Terminator in every way. Who knew that skinny Robert Patrick could be ten-times scarier than a 'roided-out Austrian android or that Schwarzenegger could make you care so much about a soulless robot? One of the best, although both Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey and Star Trek 6 never get the credit they deserve.

This is a hard one. There's a lot of good in Batman Returns, but it's far from a perfect film. Granted, it had HUGE expectations to live up, so that alone should buy it some kindness or at least the benefit of the doubt. And, even though almost every single scene with the Penguin disappointed, there's more than enough to love about Michael Keaton's second turn in the mask. Michelle Pfeiffer gave one of the best performances of her career, Christopher Walken ruled the school, and Keaton looked much more relaxed and comfortable in Bruce Wayne's shoes. A flawed, but ambitious gem. Some might argue that 1992's Alien 3 did the same thing, but that jerk David Fincher killed Newt from Aliens, so he simply can't win this one.

To be frank, we'd LOVE to count the better-than-average GoldenEye as the best sequel of '95, but, after much deliberation, we decided that the first Pierce Brosnan Bond was more of a reboot than a sequel. Regardless, Die Hard: With A Vengeance still counts as our second favorite John McClane adventure, pulling ahead of Die Harder (an airport karaoke version of the original) and the PG-13 lameness of Live Free or Die Hard. Vengeance gets extra points for bringing back Die Hard director John McTiernan, pairing Willis with a partner who almost steals the movie (nice work, Sam), having a great soundtrack, and delivering some nice NYC action. Nowhere near as good as the original Die Hard, but what movie is?

Let's just say it - we HATE 1998. We thought 1997 was bad, but 1998 didn't even have any sequels that were as snicker-worthy as Batman & Robin. They were all bad, boring messes and, if we had to pick the best of the mediocre crop, we guess we'll go with Lethal Weapon 4 (dammit). On the good side, there ARE some nice moments in LW4 - Gibson and Glover still have amazing chemistry, there's a pretty decent highway car chase, and the final Riggs and Murtaugh vs. Jet Li fight is surprisingly brutal and nicely done. On the bad side, we'll count almost EVERYTHING else about the movie, ranging from the pathetic script, lackluster everything, and every single moment Joe Pesci opens his mouth. Still, it's the lesser of many sequel evils of 1998

Yet another choice we're not proud of, but there's a disturbing lack of ambition or even competence in its competition - how boring were Rush Hour 2 and Jurassic Park 3? - and Mummy Returns is anything but boring. In fact, it's bat-**** insane and that's kind of what we love about it. Granted, it's not a good movie, but we love it for some of the same reasons we dig Batman & Robin - watching a filmmaker of questionable talent swing for the fences with an unlimited budget can sometimes be fun. Plus, after watching the soul-sucking awfulness of Mummy 3: Rise of the Dragon Who-Gives-a-Crap, we definitely found a new respect for Mummy Returns. Yeah, it's bad, but it's watchable bad, and that makes a big difference