Make me a Sequel Hollywood!

Sequels. Everyone seems to hate them. Or at least, everyone is prepared to hate them.

I have today spent a couple of hours of my life (which I will never get back) watching Transformers 2. And, I would love them back, because it was awful. Dreadful. So bad, that I wished I didn't even know that the film existed in the first place. I want to watch Citizen Kane just to cleanse my soul.

But is there anything wrong with sequels? Probably not. There is a whole lot wrong with lazy film making, but nothing wrong with seconds, or thirds or even more. And here's why. 10 sequels or films additional to the original that make us go out into the street to shout "hurrah":

1. Aliens- works because it takes the nasty from the first film (which is essentially a
horror film) and places it in the context of an action movie. Thus, we have a whole different movie to the first and one which feels as fresh as the first. Unfortunately it was all downhill after this.

2. Rocky Balboa- ooh we hated Rocky V! Why? because he didn't get to fight in a ring and crucially the human element of the story seemed to have gone AWOL...BINGO! the sequel that we should have had after that daft film with Bridget Neilsen.

3. Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull- why is this film here? Because its the sequel with the most to lose. It wasn't needed. The main actor was too old, it was a perfect trilogy as it was and it had the unenviable task of bringing an old fasioned Saturday matinee romp to the CGI generartion. And yet, it worked...it did exactly what an Indy film should do, Harrison Ford rolled back the years and it was replete with snappy one liners. Score!

4. Psycho II- OK, I'll admit that nothing can top the Hitchcock original. And yet, the second Psycho did everything that could have been expected of it, and more...it was scary, it yielded an excellent performance from Anthony Perkins and it provided an insight into the mind of a killer which was unnerving yet interesting (Rob Zombie take note with your Halloween remakes/ sequels).

5. The Empire Strikes Back-a predictable choice, but warranted nonetheless....it built on the Star Wars mythos and exploded it! Snappy dialogue, massive plot revelations and big special effect sequences. This was the sequel that created a franchise.

6. Godfather Part II- again an obvious choice in the context of this list. Yet, the reason for its inclusion comes from the inspired decision to add a back story to Marlon Brando's character and in addition to get Bob De Niro to play that part. Genius!

7. The Daleks Invasion of Earth 2150AD- slightly obscure I know! But, this sequel to Doctor Who and the Daleks is superior to the original Peter Cushing film in every way. It brought the enemy to Earth, created a believable post apocalyptic London setting and boasted some seriously way ahead of its time special effects. And Bernard Cribbins.

8. The Color Of Money- a totally different film to the original and all the better for it....Paul Newman and Tom Cruise together are dynamite!

9. Return To Oz- this was a massively brave sequel. To take everyone's favourite family film and turn it into a Terry Gilliam-esque fantasy takes guts. And though, underrated, this film achieves it in spades.

10. Speed 2- Jason Patric...on a very slow ocean liner......ok, now, I'm joking.