It’s true, we’re rather skeptical about knee-jerk revisions, sequels, prequels, reunion tours, side-projects, spin-offs, franchises and disastrous re-vamps, but the film world is where we’ve found the greatest number of exceptions to this informal rule. Arguing that newer and bigger can be better, Unreality’s David Madison offers proof with a listicle of equal or superior movie sequels. Here, then, are some of our favorites from Unreality’s 10 Movie Sequels As Good As Or Better Than the Original.

The Godfather Part II

Though accounts of Coppola’s “Italian-American Dream” epic trilogy tend to get stuck on the final installment’s disappointments, let’s not forget how brilliantly the sequel upped the opening episode’s various tensions while providing appropriately monumental origin myths.

Spider-Man 2

Managing to keep the first film’s balance of comic book-stylizing and realism while piling on a nuanced romantic plot and cooler villains like Doctor Octopus (pictured), Tobey Maguire’s second time out as Spidey was almost outstanding enough to make us ignore the disappointing third chapter. Almost…

X-Men 2

Similar to Spider-Man, a pleasantly strong first film gave rise to an inconceivably superior comic book sequel for Professor Xavier’s set of social outcasts before they self-destructed in the third film. We’re nursing cautious optimism over the upcoming Wolverine-centric spin-off:

Aliens

Certainly not better than Ridley Scott’s inaugural space monster epic, the first sequel nonetheless did justice to the original’s tension and technophobia while adding some amazing set pieces and action sequences.

2 Fast 2 Furious

An odd choice well-defended, the silly (and silly-named) sequel did away with the original’s self-seriousness and made some casting gambles that paid off handsomely (ie. Ludacris is better than Ja Rule). Of course the subsequent sequel (Tokyo Drift) didn’t hold up its end of the bargain.

Strangely Absent: Dawn of the Dead

Seminal as Night of the Living Dead is, the mid-Western mall-pocalypse of the sequel made the most of George Romero’s increased means and broadening vision. Here it is, its seventies awesomeness summarized in 10 minutes:

Also Strangely Absent: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

The first was moody and rooted in a mix of teenage angst and blighted big city grit, but the sequel added a working-class buddy (Keno, played by Ernie Reyes Jr.), environmental conspiracy cover-up (the titular ooze), more mutants, and best of all, Vanilla Ice: