A lot of sequels coming out these days, and most of them are getting panned as usual. Especially by the higher echelon of movie consumer. It got me thinking about how there are a small pack of movie sequels/franchise members out there that I really like, even though everyone blasts them. The two that come to mind most immediately are:

Another 48 Hours -- I really don't understand why everyone hates this movie. I don't like it quite as much as the original, but I think the plot totally fits with the original, and you've got Eddie Murphy with some great comedy moments (especially the "anybody else want a limp" scene.) Plus, it does something I really liked in 80s action movies...introduces a cast of uber-tough but human characters and then brings them all together at the end for an action-packed climax.

Licence To Kill (Bond) -- I think most people don't like it because it doesn't feel much like a bond movie, it feels more like a typical 80s action movie. The bad guy, Special Agent Johnson, is just a big-time drug dealer. But it has a little Count of Monte Christo-esque revenge plot for Bond, which I really like, plus I dig the two Bond girls.

Karate Kid II

I've always thought that MI:2 was a pretty decent flick.

The Godfather Part 3. Nowhere near as great as the first two, but still a really underrated film.

Alien³. Far superior to the mindless action film which preceded it.

I thought it was a lot better than the first film. (I haven't seen the third installment).

DePalma made the first one and John Woo the second, right?

That's correct. MI2 is probably Woo's best American film (which isn't saying much).

That's my answer. I hated it at first because they killed off my favorite character, Hicks. Now I love it for that reason. No one is safe.

Definitely agree on Licence To Kill. By far, the most underrated Bond movie. I would include On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but it's widely regarded by most diehard Bond fans as one of the series' finest entries these days.

I disagree about Another 48 Hrs though. The identity of the Iceman was one of the most absurd twists I've ever seen in a movie.

One sequel/prequel that's become increasingly underrated over the years is Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Even Spielberg seems embarrassed by that movie these days. I have no idea why. It's not on the level of Raiders, but it still kicks the ass of 99% of every other action flick out there.

Although I agree with this statement, but Temple of Doom was the most critcized for it violence, and brought us the creation of the overused PG-13 rating of today. It is still my favorite of Indy flicks.

"I disagree about Another 48 Hrs though. The identity of the Iceman was one of the most absurd twists I've ever seen in a movie."

Why was it so absurd? I even think they set it up a bit in the first one.

I like Face/Off myself, but I enjoyed MI2 a lot more then a lot of people here.

Jaws 2 The original is my favorite movie but part 2 does a fine job of capturing IMO more scares than the first.

Red Dragon: Not only a re-make, but a prequel to SOTL, which in and of itself is some big shoes to fill, and I thought it was quite good.

Exorcist III -- die-hard horror fans know how good it is, but it seems the general movie-going audience wrote off the whole Exorcist series after the second one and automatically assume this is terrible.

My vote as well. One of my scariest movies by far.

I totally agree with License to Kill. One of the best Bond films, although on my first viewing i was rather bored. I guess its because it doesn't have huge explosions and isn't your typical Bond flick. I was also young when i saw it, so i guess the older and wiser you become the more you appreciate substance over action.

I also quite liked MI2, although the third was easily the best in the series.

As for Alien 3....well i like Fincher and the film isn't bad, but it pales in comparison to the two films that came before it. The poster who said that it was better than Aliens is IMO just wrong. I actually liked Alien Resurrection (except for the stupid Human/Alien hybrid they came up with).

I know i will probably get a lot of flack for this, but i actually liked Highlander 2. It was completely different from the first film....but thats what i found interesting. Here are some of my other choices:

Back to the Future 2 - i thought this did a good job overall and was surprised that the second and third films didn't do as well as expected.

Die Hard with A Vengeance - I really liked this film. The second film was ok, but the story here was better overall as was the action.

Halloween 3 - Another one i will probably take flack on. I really liked the original concept that they had for these films where they would release a new one each Halloween and each film would deal with a different story. After this failed they went back to money making Michael Myers. But i thought this was a good low budget horror flick.

Hannibal - I liked this film and again it was another where the feel of it was totally different from its predecessor, but the reason why i liked it. It was filmed beautifully and it was better than the book IMO (Vergers body building lesbian sister in the book wanting his sperm...thank christ they kept that out of the film).

Jeeprs Creepers 2 - I liked the first film and watched the second wanting more. Again low budget and not much of a story, but a good popcorn flick which i felt was unappreciated.

Hellraiser 2 - Hmmmm.....i noticed that i have a few horror films here. I am not a big fan of horror, but these are the ones that came to mind. I liked this film again because the story, sets and characters did a great job of continuing the mythos. Shame the series went downhill.

Under Seige 2 - Both films are low brow actioners....but come on...how can you not appreciate a film where Steven Seagal gets shot in the arm by a mother fucking huge snipers rifle and his reaction is "You call this being shot....this isn't being shot." and proceeds to kill every terrorist within a half mile radius.

X-men 3 - Ok i am not a fan of Ratner, in fact he can stick his Rush Hour movies up his fat backside. However, i did like this film a lot and i only wish that it had been longer in viewing time.

The two that jump most readily to my mind are STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (I will fight to the death anyone who wants to dispute that this is the greatest TREK film of them all) and the aforementioned BACK TO THE FUTURE, PART II (an astonishingly convulted script--I mean that in a good way--with an energy level rarely paralleled in cinema).

How was it set up in the first one? Kehoe is never hinted at being anything other than a cop. If he was a major drug kingpin, why would he need to keep the day job? And on top of that, if Reggie Hammond can ID him, how come he hangs around the police station in the first movie and risks being outed?

I've enjoyed the Puppet Master sequels

"Back to the Future 3" (Or as i call it "Back to the Future 2 Part 2")

Puppet Master 3 was the best IMO. Six Shooter was awesome.