With a few exceptions, Harry Potter got much darker by the end that was good for me the 1st 1-4 where awful, Iron Man franchise hasn't disappointed YET! The X-Men movies where good.Hangover 1-3 are all good. But to many movies are rushed through to turn another quick £ to have any real substance to them. Paranormal Activity springs to mind!
In short, yes. Have to say I think Iron Man 1 and Hangover Part 1 are by far the best of their respective franchises. I find sequals that are made just cos the first was good/succesful (i'm looking at your Pirates, Transformers, Saw etc) are usual bad. Sequals that form part of a wider story can work such as Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings etc. Some exceptions. Certainly arguable that Aliens, Judgement Day and Godfather Part 2 are on par if not even better than the originals. Dark Knight clearly is better than Begins.
Hate them with a passion. In almost every instance they are inferior. Why bother for ****s sake? There is only one sequel I have seen that was every bit as good as the first one and that was The French Connection II. Both these films were fantastic. I don't agree either that Godfather II was better than the first one. Anyone think of a superior sequel?
I don't mind sequels if they're 1. part of a series of book adaptations or 2. made clear that there's going to be follow ups in advance. Nothing worse than making sequels for the sake of it, the Matrix follow ups being prime examples. Quite often the first movie is devalued by its sequels. I still think Godfather 2 was fractionally better than the first one though because it explores how Vito Corleone became the man he did.
Magnum force was all right (not as good as the first right enough). The dead pool was shocking though.