Movie Review Monday #23: Sequels

I really need to get to the movies to give you people some fresh insight, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon. Instead, this week I give you my favorite sequels:


1. Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. Lauryn Hill's version of "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and that one kid's performance of "O Happy Day" still give me chills. And I definitely wore out my VHS copy repeatedly watching that joyful and triumphant final scene. This film is like Glee in the ghetto, and I enjoyed it even more than the original.
2. Scream 2. My parents let me watch Rated R horror films when I was young. The good news is that I didn't turn out psychotic or anything. Holler. Anyway, Scream 2 is amazing. It's scary, it's witty, it's a good time for all (except, of course, the nine characters in it who die). 2 is my favorite out of the Scream trilogyplusone.
3. Toy Story 3. Incredible. I am still in awe of the good folks at Pixar for creating such a heartwarming, funny, emotional animated sequel. Though I do still want to know what ever happened between Woody and Bo Peep. I mean, did they break up? Did she die? Did she cheat on him with a G.I. Joe? What's the deal?
4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. My favorite Indy, hands down, though all of them are good. (Except the most recent one, but that hardly even counts as a real Indy film. What were you thinking, Steve?) Anyway, I still remember seeing this one twice in the theaters. It had adventure, humor, and oodles of lovely sermon illustrations.
5. The Dark Knight. Look, I'm not really into comic movies. In fact, I didn't even want to watch The Dark Knight because I was afraid the Joker stuff would give me nightmares given my fear of clowns. I've only seen one of the other Batman films, but even without seeing them all I know that this was the best one. Never before or since have I raised my arms in triumph and shouted "That was awesome!" when a film ended. At my apartment. By myself.


I would also like to use this platform to mention that I used to love all things Pirates until their sequels got out of control. They are so bad that I question whether I even really liked the first one. Seriously, I saw the second and third Pirates and felt insulted when they came out with a fourth. I picture a bald, besuited evil puppetmaster of a producer sitting in shadows, drumming his fingertips together as he thinks about the fact that his Pirates films don't have to be at all interesting - he can simply recycle the same rum jokes and let Johnny Depp do improv for all he cares. People will still pay to see them. Please join me in boycotting future Pirates films.


Thank you. That is all.