25 best movie sequels ever

Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
Not only is this better than the original film but Ghost Protocol takes the whole Mission Impossible franchise to a new level. It manages to combine Bond and Borne (literally in the case of Jeremy Renner) while maintaining the mission focused enthralling story of the series. And the IMAX shots make it even more encompassing, leaving you dizzy in your seat peering out of a high story building. There are some great gadgets too, something Bond is sorely missing these days.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)
After a hit Spider-man reboot, director Sam Raimi had a lot to live up to with Spider-Man 2. But by adding the old web head’s nemesis Doc Ock while grooming a new Goblin in Harry Osborne – and interspersing those relationships with great fight scenes on a train and in a bank – it was a hit. Another great humour-injecting performance from Bruce Campbell helped too.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
He's back! James Cameron pulled out all the stops for his follow-up to 1984's The Terminator, recasting Arnie's murderous machine as a protector to bratty teen John Connor. They're menaced by Robert Patrick's feral T-1000 – a throwback to Cameron's original idea for the Terminator, in which the robot assassin was an ordinary-looking bloke instead of Arnie's hulking behemoth. Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor is reinvented as a badass killing machine, while then-state-of-the-art CGI was used for the T-1000's transformations. One scene in which the liquid-metal killer assumes the shape of Sarah Connor was realised using rather cheaper methods – Hamilton's identical twin sister, Leslie, stepped in to play the role.

Superman II (1980)
A Superman without super powers, surely that’s a bad idea? Especially when Earth is invaded by evil super powered Kryptonians. But it all just adds to the intensity of this great sequel that saw General Zod make a surprisingly un-camp PVC-suited appearance to offer Superman a truly challenging battle. Metropolis sure paid the price for that one.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
After Indy's dark excursion into the Temple of Doom, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas decided to play it safe with the third entry in the Indiana Jones series. That meant pitting Indy against Nazis in the hunt for a Biblical artefact (the Holy Grail, this time around). It could've been a case of same old, same old – but for Spielberg's brilliant decision to add Indy's father, played by Sean Connery, to the mix.