The Drinker's Top 5 Underrated Sequels

Five Underrated Sequels

The Critical Drinker counts down five sequels he thinks deserve more appreciation. While Hollywood often plays it safe with familiar franchises, he argues that some follow-ups hold up better than their reputations suggest. He opens with a few jabs at the industry’s lack of originality, comparing the number of original releases to the fingers of an “incompetent Yakuza member.”

5. Die Hard 2

John McClane returns to face a takeover of an airport, leaving planes circling overhead with nowhere to land. The Drinker admits the sequel can’t match the original: its villain is less memorable, its setting less inventive, and its action relies more on bigger stakes than better storytelling.

Still, he calls it a fun, effects-packed ride—one that simply has to compete with an exceptionally high bar. He also questions why the grenades seem to take “like 30 seconds” to explode.

4. Rocky II

Rather than simply repeating the first film, Rocky II explores what happens after sudden fame fades. Rocky burns through his prize money and struggles to find a place outside the ring, while Apollo Creed’s bruised pride makes him more focused and determined than before.

The plot and final fight may feel familiar, but the film’s character details—and its connection to Stallone’s own career—make it more thoughtful than its reputation suggests. The Drinker jokes that taking a drink every time Rocky gets hit would send you to the hospital by the first round.

3. 2010: The Year We Make Contact

Living in the shadow of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, this sequel trades much of the original’s slow, philosophical mystery for more grounded characters and Cold War tension.

The Drinker praises the cast, effects, and the film’s effort to resolve some of the first movie’s unanswered questions without explaining everything away. He also singles out the ending as a poignant redemption for a memorable villain.

2. Ghostbusters II

The Drinker thinks the sequel is unfairly dismissed. He agrees that it plays things too safe, follows the first movie’s structure closely, and gives the team a less memorable villain in Vigo the Carpathian.

But he still enjoys the cast’s performances, jokes, and familiar Ghostbusters energy. He argues that it feels more like the original film than later entries do, and suggests its biggest problem was having to follow one of the great comedies of the 1980s.

1. Predator 2

Rather than repeat the jungle setting and action-hero formula, the sequel moves the hunt to a crime-ravaged Los Angeles. There, Danny Glover’s weary police detective investigates a mysterious killer.

The Drinker praises how the movie makes its new setting and cast work while keeping the Predator’s menace intact. He highlights the gory subway shootout, the Predator’s new weapons, and the government’s interest in capturing its technology. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s absence and an overlong final battle are drawbacks, but he still calls it a strong action-horror film—and his most underrated sequel.

Closing Remarks

The Drinker acknowledges that viewers may disagree and invites debate over alternative picks before signing off with, “Go away now.”

Personalities Mentioned

The Critical Drinker (narrator), Sylvester Stallone, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, William Sadler, and Stanley Kubrick.