It often happens, in the world of movies, that trilogies see a decline in quality. The first movie comes out and we love it, it’s new, it’s fresh, but then the story keeps going and somehow it gets worse. Sometimes it is hard to top the original, but in some rare cases it happens, and fans have come together to share some of the best examples.
Execs and production companies often want to make as much money as they can from movies, so if the first one seems popular then, of course, they are going to stretch it to a second and third film, even if the quality continues to decline. But not every trilogy sees declining returns in regard to storytelling, there are some movies that only get better the further you delve into the story.
The discussion kicked off with the strongest contender first, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The film was the final in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy based on J.R.R Tolkien’s works. All three are phenomenal films and have gone down in history as one of the best trilogies ever made, but there was something special about the last entry, which won 11 Academy Awards making it one of the most-awarded films in history.
Many consider the third film in the Bourne series to be the best of the bunch, with great storytelling and action sequences, it managed to top both its prequels.
Though the MCU has been struggling the last year or so to put out anything that everyone was truly on board with, the third Spider-Man film, No Way Home was a huge high point for the studio. Of course, this goliath of a film got a mention.
Another third film in a franchise that went down well was Toy Story 3, a film that left most of us crying over these toys we have been following since we too were kids. It’s just a shame that they didn’t leave it there.
A similar issue occurred with the Thor franchise, with the first two films considered on the weaker side of the MCU at the time, Ragnarok completely flipped the dynamic, with Taita Waititi bringing his zany energy to the once serious character. The third installment was by far the best film, and then… Love and Thunder came along and took things way too far.
Perhaps another example of where they should have just left it at three is the Indiana Jones franchise. Many consider it a trilogy when looking at the 80’s films, with Last Crusade being a fan favorite.
More recently, many believe that the most recent Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was the best possible send-off for the original team-up. Anyways, who would have expected three Marvel mentions in this talk?
There were, of course, plenty of other recommendations, such as Logan being the best solo Wolverine film of his three solo outings, Evil Dead Three: Army of Darkness also got a look in, with some also adding Die Hard 3 and War for the Planet of the Apes also getting a look in.