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Has there ever been a good comedy sequel?

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I am asking an honest question that isn't smartass in any way because I was just thinking and I can't think of a sequel to a comedy film that I ever really thought was good.

For every other type of film there are sequels that I like but for some strange reason not comedies.

They either feel like complete retreads of the original, or they seem to miss what made the first film so funny and why I love it.

Please not I am talking about direct sequels, not films that happen to have the same cast and director but tell a different story about different characters.  lots of comedy teams seem to be able to team up over and over again and make funny movies, but for some reason when they team up to produce a sequel it always seems to fail.

Maybe I am just missing them but I can't think of any good comedy sequels off of the top of my head.  Are there any out there that I have missed?

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I'd actually rate Naked Gun 2-1/2 higher than the original.

The second and third Austin Powers movies weren't as consistent as the first, but both had many moments where I laughed harder at those than I did at anything in the first.

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I thought Clerks 2 was pretty good.  Nowhere near as insightful, clever, or classic as the original but it's funny enough.  

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I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this before but, Short Circuit 2.

Airplane! 2. Maybe it's not better, just very very equal in quality.

and yeah, 'Hot Shots: Part Deux' was excellent. So many great gags. Where else are you gonna see The Prez have a Lightsaber duel with Saddam? Plus he wallstreet gag and comedy legend Rowan Atkinson was brilliant...

VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.

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Ghostbusters II

*gets booed off the stage, pelted with eggs and tomatos on the street, and finally tarred and feathered in the town square*

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Exorcist II: The Heretic. ;)

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Where were you in '77?

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Ryan McAvoy said:

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this before but, Short Circuit 2.

Airplane! 2. Maybe it's not better, just very very equal in quality.

and yeah, 'Hot Shots: Part Deux' was excellent. So many great gags. Where else are you gonna see The Prez have a Lightsaber duel with Saddam? Plus he wallstreet gag and comedy legend Rowan Atkinson was brilliant...

 I've bugged Frink a couple times to put the Saddam Lightsaber duel in ROTR.

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Where were you in '77?

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DuracellEnergizer said:

Ghostbusters II

*gets booed off the stage, pelted with eggs and tomatos on the street, and finally tarred and feathered in the town square*

 I liked Ghostbusters II a lot. I always thought I was the only one. Hello there!!

It didn't have the serious undertones that the first one featured, but it did keep a lot of the comedy aspects. I don't see why people hate it so much.

Maybe I've seen the first one so many times, I don't find it as funny and clever as I once did, and that has sort of numbed me to the point where I place it alongside the sequel. Keep in mind, I was a very young child when I watched both of the Ghostbusters movies, so maybe nostalgia has clouded that, but nostalgia doesn't hold every thing up. I don't like a lot of movies I loved as a child. q

"The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the DVD version [of the Special Edition], and you’ll be able to project it on a 20’ by 40’ screen with perfect quality. I think it’s the director’s prerogative, not the studio’s to go back and reinvent a movie." - George Lucas

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I'm an unapologetic Ghostbusters 2 fan, also.

It seems to me that the first film was content to be a spoof throughout, while the second one has some legitimately dramatic moments and character development in between the comedy.  It has somewhat more depth because of this, I think, despite still being very silly overall.

The reason it succeeds is that it aims higher in its writing, whereas most comedy sequels tend to aim lower in tone, trying to imitate or repeat the style of what made the original work without managing to replicate the substance.  It's a rare sequel that actually manages to add new substance to what was already there before.  Strangely enough, this may actually be what people don't like about it . . .

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This thread title reminds me, I really need to read Don Quixote sometime.

But then, that's the curse of being smart: you tend to pick up new thoughts from the unlikeliest of places.

“That Darth Vader, man. Sure does love eating Jedi.”

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SilverWook said:

Exorcist II: The Heretic. ;)

All joking aside, I prefer Exorcist II to the original. I've always found the original heavy-handed and lacking in subtlety, and I just plain don't like Satan as a villain, so the movie's never held all that much appeal for me.

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SilverWook said:

I've bugged Frink a couple times to put the Saddam Lightsaber duel in ROTR.

Leave it up to the spoofs to give the bad guys lightsaber colours other than red. *sigh* 

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I'm sorry, but Ghostbusters 2 is terrible. Among all the other problems it has, it's just flat out unfunny.

Putting it on the same level as the original is crazy talk.

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Sequels that come to mind:

Toy Story 2 and 3 (both much more clever and funnier than the original);

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (on equal level as the original, except in much different ways);

Kung Fu Panda 2 (good but not great sequel to the underrated first film);

And Back to the Future Part II. I'm much more a Part II guy than a Part III guy; Part III is where the "look, it's the exact same actor, but it's his great-great-grandfather / mother!" schtick got really tiring. I get everyone's problems with Part II, but I think it's a good time. The original is much better, though. 

Does Big Trouble in Little China count? Semi-sequel to Buckaroo Banzai? No? Okay...

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Confirmed Ghostbusters II fan.

Mondess122 said:

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (on equal level as the original, except in much different ways);

 Now that's crazy talk!

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"Another Thin Man."

"Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey"

"Scary Movie 4"

"European Vacation"

"Police Academy 2" 

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Mondess122 said:

Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Of course. Genuinely head and shoulders above the first movie, in terms of sheer gags-per-minute, if nothing else.

VIZ TOP TIPS! - PARENTS. Impress your children by showing them a floppy disk and telling them it’s a 3D model of a save icon.

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Without a doubt Another Stakeout was twice as good as the original Stakeout

I was once…but now I’m not… Further: zyzzogeton

“It wasn’t the flood that destroyed the pantry…”

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Tobar said:

Mondess122 said:

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (on equal level as the original, except in much different ways);

 Now that's crazy talk!

I never cared much about most of the characters in the original Gremlins, while the sequel makes the original characters more likeable and brings in some fun new ones, like Christopher Lee and John Glover. Plus, I can't help but appreciate that go all out with the crazyness à la Big Trouble in Little China (one of my favorite films). It's admittedly somewhat of a mess, but I think it's much funnier than the original and in some ways more clever, too. Gremlins is equally enjoyable, but mostly because of its effective horror aspects and the christmas vibe that it has. It's not as funny as the sequel, not even close.

Plus, you got to love Brain Gremlin. 

Plus, Joe Dante prefers it as well, so that automatically means I'm right! 

TV's Frink said:

Since when is BTTF a comedy?

Wait...Ghostbusters was a comedy as well?! (I didn't find it that funny, honestly. 2.5 out of 5.) 

Speaking of where-do-you-draw-the-line-with-comedies, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I find that a pretty funny flick.

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Mondess122 said:

Tobar said:

Mondess122 said:

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (on equal level as the original, except in much different ways);

 Now that's crazy talk!

I never cared much about most of the characters in the original Gremlins, while the sequel makes the original characters more likeable and brings in some fun new ones, like Christopher Lee and John Glover. Plus, I can't help but appreciate that go all out with the crazyness à la Big Trouble in Little China (one of my favorite films). It's admittedly somewhat of a mess, but I think it's much funnier than the original and in some ways more clever, too. Gremlins is equally enjoyable, but mostly because of its effective horror aspects and the christmas vibe that it has. It's not as funny as the sequel, not even close.

Plus, you got to love Brain Gremlin. 

Plus, Joe Dante prefers it as well, so that automatically means I'm right! 

TV's Frink said:

Since when is BTTF a comedy?

Wait...Ghostbusters was a comedy as well?! (I didn't find it that funny, honestly. 2.5 out of 5.) 

 Get out of this thread.

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TV's Frink said:

Mondess122 said:

Tobar said:

Mondess122 said:

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (on equal level as the original, except in much different ways);

 Now that's crazy talk!

I never cared much about most of the characters in the original Gremlins, while the sequel makes the original characters more likeable and brings in some fun new ones, like Christopher Lee and John Glover. Plus, I can't help but appreciate that go all out with the crazyness à la Big Trouble in Little China (one of my favorite films). It's admittedly somewhat of a mess, but I think it's much funnier than the original and in some ways more clever, too. Gremlins is equally enjoyable, but mostly because of its effective horror aspects and the christmas vibe that it has. It's not as funny as the sequel, not even close.

Plus, you got to love Brain Gremlin. 

Plus, Joe Dante prefers it as well, so that automatically means I'm right! 

TV's Frink said:

Since when is BTTF a comedy?

Wait...Ghostbusters was a comedy as well?! (I didn't find it that funny, honestly. 2.5 out of 5.) 

 Get out of this thread.