Top 10 Sequels Of The Past Decade: From Blade Runner To Top Gun

The last 10 years in Hollywood have seen some major ups and downs, but among the highs are the impressive quality of some of the sequels. Often, fans get excited about sequels, yet still end up feeling like they fail to live up to the original. However, since 2017, we've gotten some all-time great sequels.

Some of these movies were blockbusters that produced huge box office numbers, while others flopped commercially despite being a hit with critics. From sci-fi epics to some of the biggest action movies ever made to modern animated classics, the past decade of sequels has been pretty incredible.

Avatar: The Way Of Water (2022)

The original Avatar was a groundbreaking movie that set a new standard for 3D effects and visuals in general. It made box office history, grossed over $2 billion, and then kind of disappeared as production on the sequel took more than a decade.

When Avatar: The Way of Water finally arrived, many wondered if people still cared about the franchise. They clearly did, with this sequel receiving strong reviews and also grossing more than $2 billion globally. This film hits similar beats to the previous film, yet adds just enough to make it even better.

They made sure the time gap was felt and gave us a story where Neytiri and Jake now have an entire family, raising the stakes. We had more characters to care about, giving this a level of emotional weight that the first didn't have, turning Avatar: The Way of Water into a special film.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

One of the most difficult things to pull off in Hollywood is the legacy sequel. History is littered with follow-ups that wait a long time, even decades, after the original, only to disappoint fans. That was very possible with Blade Runner 2049 since the first film is held in such high esteem.

Thankfully, Blade Runner 2049 delivered something that lived up to the high standards set by the original. Director Denis Villeneuve made sure the movie looked gorgeous, while coaxing the best performances out of his tremendous cast, which featured Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, and Ana de Armas, among others.

Blade Runner 2049 cost a lot to make so its box office intake of around $275 million made it a flop. Critics loved it though, as the film was nominated for five Oscars, winning Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

The Mission: Impossible franchise is an interesting one to look at. The first installment is a classic, the second was something of a major disappointment, and then the subsequent sequels kept getting bigger and better. Mission: Impossible - Fallout is the peak of the series, with many believing it tops the two that followed.

Fallout sees Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt on another absurd mission and sees him do some wild stunts. The HALO jump is one of the most impressive and breathtaking scenes ever put on the big screen, yet it's only one of several outstanding sequences in Mission: Impossible - Fallout.

This movie also gets a boost from a great story and the stellar supporting cast around Cruise. Angela Bassett joins the fray, while Henry Cavill is one of the best additions to the entire franchise. If you want to see Cruise and Mission: Impossible at its best, this is the movie for you.

Logan (2017)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a major misfire as the initial solo outing for Hugh Jackman's iconic character, while The Wolverine was a solid, yet underrated sequel. By the time Logan was announced, people were excited but it was somewhat tempered by the previous outings.

In the end, Logan turned out to be, far and away, the best solo effort featuring Jackman's Wolverine. It adapts the "Old Man Logan" storyline from the comics, following Wolverine as age catches up to him and his healing abilities have waned, making him more vulnerable than ever.

Hugh Jackman delivers his greatest performance as the character, while Patrick Stewart is excellent as Professor X. The scene stealer is Dafne Keen as X-23/Laura, nailing both the violent and emotional scenes she's involved in. Logan even landed an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Paddington 2 (2017)

Paddington arrived in 2014 and was about as adorable and lovable as a film can be. Based on the series of British children's books featuring Paddington Bear, the movie ended up being a hit and when we got Paddington 2, it became one of the best sequels ever made.

Paddington 2 set a record for having the most reviews on Rotten Tomatoes while maintaining a 100% rating (it's currently at 99%). This was more of what we loved about the first film but with every slightly elevated from the supporting cast to the heart of the story to the visual effects on Paddington.

This sequel was so beloved that it was even the subject of a great scene in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, where Nicolas Cage (playing himself) and Pedro Pascal cry while watching it because it's so perfect. Paddington 2 is one of the best movies of the 2010s, regardless of genre.

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

The first two movies in the Shrek franchise are considered some of the best animated films ever made. However, the third and fourth entries weren't nearly as good and the Puss in Boots spin-off was kind of just there. Making a Puss in Boots sequel over a decade later seemed like a questionable move.

Clearly, there was a reason this got made as the people behind it had some stellar ideas. The story surrounding Puss dealing with his own mortality as he's down to the last of his nine lives was perfect and made for one of the more compelling screenplays of its era, especially within its genre.

The visual style was also so well done. The fight scenes look like they were ripped straight out of a high-caliber anime, while the design of the villainous wolf was so cool that it heavily inspired Ryan Coogler while he was making the Oscar-nominated Sinners.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

It's not often that a movie is a sequel to over a dozen previous films, yet that's part of what makes Avengers: Infinity War so unique. It upped the scale from even the billion dollar successes of the past Avengers films by incorporating more characters than ever, from Black Panther to the Guardians of the Galaxy to Spider-Man.

The interesting thing about Avengers: Infinity War is that in a movie with more heroes than ever, it's the villain, Thanos, who is the protagonist. He's the driving force of the story, gets a good chunk of screen time, and his relationship with Gamora is one of the most intriguing in the entire MCU.

Avengers: Infinity War is so great because it doesn't ever let up. The film starts with Thanos' introduction and then takes us on a barrage of exciting scenes. We see characters interact who had never done so before, major battles are fought across various worlds, and that ending is the stuff of legend.

Dune: Part Two (2024)

After putting out a great sequel in Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve turned his attention to adapting Dune. Many believed it was impossible to adapt but he split the novel into two and the first installment was a Best Picture nominee that became a box office hit.

For Dune: Part Two, Villeneuve upped the stakes and delivered something truly special. The scale was grander, the action was more boisterous, most of the cast got more to do, and this was just an event to experience, especially in a theater.

Dune: Part Two was another Best Picture nominee that somehow improved on a fantastic first entry. The returning cast members were even better, while new additions like Florence Pugh and Austin Butler added so much to it all.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

As noted, legacy sequels can be tough to pull off but nobody has done it better than Top Gun: Maverick. A sequel nearly 40 years after the original, Top Gun: Maverick blended what worked in the first with the high-octane stuff Tom Cruise is now known for.

That made for a sequel that improved on the original. Joseph Kosinski and Cruise worked together to make sure that the audience felt as if they were in the fighter jets with the characters, giving this a level of intensity that's almost unmatched.

Top Gun: Maverick was a critical darling, including finding itself nominated for Best Picture. It also grossed nearly $1.5 billion at the box office, which is much more than anyone expected and the film is credited with bringing theaters back to life after the pandemic.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (2023)

In 2018, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse told an incredible origin story for Miles Morales and gave us a unique big screen version of Peter Parker, while also introducing us to heroes like Gwen Stacy's Spider-Woman. Many consider it the best Spider-Man film ever made.

Due to that, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had a lot to live up to and it succeeded in doing so. The film improves on the unbelievable visual style of the first by adding in so many new universes and somehow making them all flow together seamlessly.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse also expanded the story in a major way, giving us more variations of the hero than ever, introducing us to new worlds, and establishing a story that sets the tone for a highly anticipated third installment.