Ah Lazy you are probably right about the sequels list but I'm old hat and rarely swayed in for sequels. I watch them for the sake of them but fear most don't come close to the first. My exceptions would be:
Alien vs Aliens
Aliens was just different from the start and as a action sci-fi I considered it a pretty good hit. I even have the RPG board game!
Batman Begins & Dark Knight
Both class but the Dark Knight just ticked all the boxes.
I enjoyed all Spiderman films but the last was scraping the bottom of the barrel. The first was ground breaking the second I'm having trouble remembering!
As for Star Wars.... the first and last films all the way.. even those annoying ewoks... I was never a fan of Empire Strikes Back.
As milking franchises go.. there are the two biggies - Star Trek and James Bond. I've never been a true trekky although I enjoyed The Next Generation but not really followed it. The last film however was a breath of fresh air. Same Star Trek but with a certain crisp action-packed wrapper to it. The last two bond films were pretty reasonable but then I guess film making skills and effects have changed so much over the years.
Oh god remakes.... I doubt they will ever come close to the originals as we see them but the young peeps that the films are intended for thing they are great.. What gets me is the way Hollywood believe they can improve on most anything others have done and generally right royally fuck it up. Such fantastic Japanese films like The Ring, One Missed Call, The Grudge were all butchered and bastardise for a somewhat moronic (most present company exempt) american audience. I don't scare easily but the Japanese version of The Ring last thing at night just plain got me and they waited til the end. Brilliance.
Excuse my ramblings.. was a hell of a late night.. had a late night visit to A&E (not me though).
