Trilogies tend to be a mixed bag by definition. There’s the rare trilogy where all three films are of comparable quality, but no series of three films where they all received the exact same reception.
Generally, the first installment of any film series is the best, but trilogies can defy that expectation because they’re planned, there’s a larger narrative goal in mind. A trilogy sequel doesn’t have to be merely a cash grab continuation of a property that was financially viable for a major studio. The way Redditors see it, even the third and final installment of a trilogy can be better than the two that preceded it.
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966)
Basileo was one of several Redditors to give the edge to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, while also citing that they love the entire trilogy.
In their words, “The added cast member in each movie is the deciding factor for me. For a Few Dollars More you get the wonderful Lee Van Cleef. Then, you get him again in GBU and you get the amazing Eli Wallach! I love the trilogy as a whole so much (especially 2 & 3). It’s one where I like each movie better than its predecessor but they’re all high-tier westerns.”
A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Like the original Wes Craven film, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is an entertaining and successful horror movie with creepy dream logic. It expanded the franchise in an organic way that felt true to what Craven (who produced Dream Warriors) created with the original A Nightmare on Elm Street. It’s also the movie where Freddy comes into his own, for better or worse. Naturally, more Nightmares followed, but Craven’s returning participation indicates he wanted Freddy dead with 3.
Rechan described the movie’s appeal to fans and critics alike: “Sure I knew it was a fan favorite, people say it’s as good, if not better than the original. But Holy hell I can’t believe I slept on this movie this long.”
Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995)
Die Hard: With a Vengeance changed up the one-against-an-army dynamic of both Die Hard and Die Hard 2: Die Harder by adding Samuel L. Jackson’s Zeus Carver, who could not be a better foil for Bruce Willis’s John McClane.
Hoothootzap mentioned the third McClane adventure by title, and gracecase replied at greater length: “Definitely, I am surprised this is not higher up the original thread. Great cast, Jeremy Irons was fu***** brilliant! Cool story and nobody killed the school children. Full of Win!”
Austin Powers In Goldmember (2002)
In terms of critical response, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is leagues above The Spy Who Shagged Me and Goldmember, but Reddit users almost universally seem to think the third is top of the heap. Apparently, the more characters Mike Myers plays, the more people love the movie.
Beaucoup_do_fromage was succinct: “Austin Powers in Goldmember. Definitely the funniest of the three!” Furthermore, on a separate thread, Dookiefresh1 wrote “Personally, Goldmember is by far my favorite of the Austin Powers movies.”
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith (2005)
A now-deleted user was cheeky in how they described Star Wars‘ prequel trilogy: “Episode I was the worst Star Wars movie ever made…until Episode II came out.” Then, Wombat_H replied with an equally cheeky “Episode II was the worst Star Wars movie ever made…until Episode III came out.”
Most Star Wars fans would disagree with this, as the prequel trilogy is generally seen to have improved as it progressed. For instance, Megaman1981 replied to Wombat_H with “I don’t know about that. Episode III was a step up from II.” Tacticool_Brandon also replied, writing “3 is the best out of the prequels though.” At the very least, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith has a great one-on-one fight scene.
Toy Story 3 (2010)
All of the Toy Story movies rank amongst Tom Hanks’s best, but the third installment was the one that managed to bring adults across the world to tears. It’s rare that a “kids” movie appeals to the older just as much as the young, but Toy Story 3 accomplishes that in spades and then some. And, while there was a Toy Story 4, the third is clearly tying the bow on the package for shipping.
Krodnoc mentioned the Pixar trilogy-capper by name, to which mourningreaper00 replied with “Toy Story 3 I think is the best in the series because it really captures the significance of toys in a child’s life. It also wraps up the story in a way greater than any trilogy I’ve ever seen.”
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
On a thread looking for movie series that only got better with sequels, the_black_panther simply wrote “The Captain America movies.” Captain America: Civil War being the best is a sentiment many MCU fans agree with, but Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: The Winter Soldier are both stellar in their own right.
A now-deleted user replied with an elaboration on what makes the complex MCU film work so well: “I’m really glad Civil war actually let you decide on your own what side was right instead of showing its own interpretation down your throat like a lot of big-budget movies do.”
War For The Planet Of The Apes (2017)
While a fair amount of viewers would be likely to call Matt Reeves’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes the best installment of this franchise, even more on Reddit hail Reeves’s War for the Planet of the Apes as the superior installment of the reboot trilogy.
There’s no question that Reeves’s two films are the best installments of the three, even if Rise of the Planet of the Apes laid some good groundwork. Jwallkeller wrote of War: “I thought this was a great conclusion to the story of Caesar and what he did for apes. They did such a good job making Woody a despicable dude and flipping that on its head when it came time for his and Caesar’s final confrontation.” The one thing that War absolutely had to nail was the conclusion of Caesar’s arc. The character immediately transcended a personality-free CGI creation to become something very real, relatable, and poignant. The fact that Andy Serkis was not nominated for either Dawn or War is something that puzzles cinephiles to this day.
Logan (2017)
Released in 2017, one of the best years for superhero movies, James Mangold’s Logan sent Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine off in a satisfying, poignant fashion. Mangold also directed the Wolverine pseudo trilogy’s second installment, which was also far more well-reviewed than the notorious first: X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
B-Goat23 crafted a well-written and articulated summary of the Mangold film’s appeal: “It showed me how important the element of consequence is for a film to have an emotional and effective impact…It perfectly encapsulates the essence of what films should be about, evoking an emotional reaction and creating characters that can resonate with you even after their story has been told.”
Bad Boys For Life (2020)
The original Bad Boys is both entertaining and a mid-’90s timepiece. Notably, it was Will Smith’s breakthrough even before ID4, but it also made a bigger star of Martin Lawrence. Throughout the trilogy, even the regrettable and intermittently vile Bad Boys II, it was Lawrence and Smith’s chemistry that sold the whole affair. This was never more apparent than in Bad Boys for Life, the most well-constructed and outright breezy film of the three.
Aagaash2001 put the third installment’s merits well with “Bad Boys for Life made the characters likable, the action wasn’t incomprehensible, there were some good jokes (the plane sequence > all the humor in the previous films combined), and there was some heart. Was it a perfect movie? Hell no. Was it a major improvement? Hell yes.”
