The 25 Best Movie Sequels of All Time, According to Internet Voters

While plenty of movie sequels never quite live up to the high standards set by the originals, others go on to outperform their first installments at the box office and/or in reviews and ratings.

Thanks to Ranker, you can see how your personal opinions about certain sequels measure up against those of the masses. The crowdsourced ranking site plays host to a list of the best movie sequels of all time, as voted on by anyone with an internet connection. The ranking system is more complex than just ordering the films from most to fewest votes. You can upvote or downvote a movie, so the algorithm accounts not only for the number of upvotes, but the ratio of upvotes to downvotes, too. Voters also have the option to re-rank a list entirely, and the algorithm gives extra weight to re-rankers’ votes.

“Yeah, it’s complicated,” Ranker explains on the site. “But we’ve done a lot of testing and years of data-science to determine that the order of a list on Ranker is about as accurate as anyone can get.”

According to the results, The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan’s 2008 follow-up to 2005’s Batman Begins, is the best movie sequel ever made. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) rounded out the top three. The list has something for just about every kind of movie viewer, from cinephiles (1974’s The Godfather Part II came in fifth place) to kids (Shrek 2 and Toy Story 2 both made the top 15).

It’s also worth noting that sequel in this context means the second film in a series—not just any film that came after the first one. For example, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets qualifies (and took the 21st spot), but none of the other Harry Potter films do.

Find out what else made the top 25 below—and if you’re outraged at the conspicuous absence of say, Paddington 2, you’re always welcome to upvote it on the full list.

1. The Dark Knight (2008)
2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
3. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
4. Aliens (1986)
5. The Godfather Part II (1974)
6. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
8. Deadpool 2 (2018)
9. Toy Story 2 (1999)
10. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
11. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
12. John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
13. Shrek 2 (2004)
14. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
15. Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
16. Rocky II (1979)
17. Back to the Future Part II (1989)
18. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
19. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
20. X2: X-Men United (2003)
21. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
22. Batman Returns (1992)
23. Kill Bill Volume 2 (2004)
24. Superman II (1980)
25. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)