A: “Eh, have you watched that movie?”

B: “Which one?”

A: “Oh, this is the sequel. The first part was out two years ago…”

There are just too many movies with sequels recently. And not all of them have a decent reason for doing so. Why the heck do we have sequels to National Treasure or Night of the Museum? Lack of good stories or is it merely a way to capitalize the first movie’s publicity? I suspect it’s the latter – profits are still the no. 1 factor why a movie is being made. So, if the first movie had enjoyed good profits, the sequel is likely to enjoy similar if not better results.

Personally, I don’t think many sequels succeed unless they were based from fictions. On top of my mind, the three best sequels would be Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Godfather Part II and The Bourne Ultimatum. A best-selling fiction has its advantage before turning to movies – for one, they already enjoyed a great plot and that’s very crucial. Scriptwriters unless truly inspired may just be forcing themselves to write a sequel when the story had already and should have ended in the first movie.

For instance, I just watched Marley & Me last night. As far as I am concerned, the story has ended. What if somebody told me there is a sequel in two years time? I would be totally shocked, but then, I shouldn’t really - Hollywood is capable of anything.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the fallen will be opening soon in local cinemas and is predicted to be another box office success as their prequel. But, will it enjoy good reviews? Will it has what it takes to join the category of best sequels?