These cinematic follow-ups have us in stitches! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the sequels to comedy movies that managed the rare feat of out-funnying their predecessors.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the sequels to comedy movies
00:08that managed the rare feat of outfunnying their predecessors.
00:19Number 10.
00:20Deadpool 2 While director Tim Miller, who helmed the
00:34first Deadpool, was no slouch, John Wick filmmaker David Leitch amped up not only the action,
00:41but the comedy too.
00:43More snark?
00:44More mouthing off?
00:45Yeah, this is a Deadpool movie.
00:58With the stakes — and budget — even higher after the runaway success of the first film,
01:04Deadpool 2 is even more comfortable skewering contemporary superhero movies like Scream
01:09did slasher movies before it.
01:11Ryan Reynolds is clearly having the time of his life playing the beloved merc with a mouth,
01:16and Josh Brolin makes for a perfect no-nonsense foil to his antics.
01:29Number 9.
01:30Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay Many sequels learn the hard way that bigger
01:47is not always better.
01:49However, bigger is definitely better when it comes to the Harold and Kumar franchise's
01:53outlandish comedic stylings.
01:55Raunchy and offensive to the point of sheer absurdity, Guantanamo Bay is an extremely
02:01out-of-its-time stoner comedy for the ages, proving that its titular duo were much more
02:07than just a modern-day, pale imitation of Cheech and Chong.
02:19We can't think of too many movies in which the climactic scene is our heroes, uh, enjoying
02:24some greenery with the then-current President of the United States, and encouraging him
02:29to confront his own daddy issues.
02:32Moving stuff.
02:40Number 8.
02:41Clerks 2 There's simply no denying that Kevin Smith's
02:49landmark 1994 indie comedy Clerks is a genuine classic of indie cinema with plenty of raunchy
02:55laughs that hold up to this day.
02:58That having been said, the director's decade-in-the-making follow-up benefits from the dramatic heft of
03:04the cinematic universe surrounding it, lending it a certain thoughtfulness and poignance
03:08that it might not have earned otherwise.
03:11More importantly, though, it goes for bigger swings, edgier jokes, and definitely more
03:17interesting targets.
03:28Smith's streak of juvenile silliness shines through in perhaps the clearest, most focused
03:33way it ever has.
03:35And its cast, particularly view-askew newcomer Rosario Dawson, was born to gleefully deliver
03:42his characteristic hard-R dialogue.
03:46Number 7.
03:47Shrek 2 The sequel to 2001's smash-hit animated fantasy
04:02comedy is the rare sequel that manages to please just about everyone.
04:07Warmly received by critics and audiences alike, it was a then-rare film that grossed
04:12nearly $1 billion dollars.
04:14A genuine cultural phenomenon.
04:26Oh yeah, and it also competed for the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
04:32The filmmakers at DreamWorks accomplished all of this by doing what the best sequels
04:36do.
04:37They embraced fresh ideas and new characters, while deepening the world that the viewers
04:42had fallen in love with the first time around.
04:44Thanks to its stronger sense of identity, its sense of humor is also more clearly defined.
04:50Like a certain ogre, it has lairs.
04:53Like an onion.
05:03Number 6.
05:04National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Chevy Chase's beleaguered Griswold clan
05:16somehow manages to ratchet the awkwardness up just in time for the holidays.
05:22Whereas the first two vacation films found the Griswolds hitting multiple locations,
05:26Christmas Vacation has the good sense to see what happens when you stick the family in
05:30one location.
05:32Oh, and it's not just Clark, Ellen, Rusty, and Audrey.
05:35It's the entire extended Griswold family, too.
05:45We think this might be the exact dictionary definition of a pressure cooker?
05:50Wildly inspired set pieces, cranked up madcap energy, and a go-for-bro comedic approach
05:55make this a Christmas to remember.
06:04Number 5.
06:05Austin Powers in Goldmember Was two Mike Myers's not enough for you?
06:23Okay, well, how about three?
06:26Still no?
06:27Well, if you're satisfied with four Mike Myers's, then Goldmember is the James Bond spoofing
06:32time travel abusing threequel for you.
06:43In all seriousness, while the first two Powers films are inarguably stone cold comedy classics,
06:50Goldmember represents the series going out on a lowbrow high.
06:54Myers fully commits to each of his comedic creations, especially the, uh, we'll say
06:59off-putting titular character.
07:02A now old-school, cameo-laden Hollywood extravaganza at its grooviest, Goldmember has audiences
07:08clamoring for more Austin, even to this day.
07:21Number 4.
07:22Gremlins 2, The New Batch The 1984 comedy horror flick Gremlins became
07:36a sleeper hit, grossing well over $200 million on a mere $11 million budget.
07:42So naturally, Warner Bros. wanted a sequel.
07:46However, it stalled for years while the studio and director Joe Dante grappled over the follow-up's
07:51creative direction, with Dante even walking out on the film before Warner Bros. made him
07:56an offer that, well, you know.
08:03Granted complete control, Dante made Gremlins 2 a totally left-field blast of fourth-wall-breaking
08:09pop-culture referencing that almost completely eschews the tone and style of the first film.
08:15It's no wonder, then, that Dante himself has since described The New Batch as one of
08:20the more unconventional studio pictures ever.
08:31Number 3.
08:32Adam's Family Values For the sake of Values director Barry Sonnenfeld,
08:46give it a chance, will ya?
08:48In 2021, Sonnenfeld shared that he felt the film had underperformed at the time of its
08:53release due to being failed by its marketing, which promised more of the same.
08:58This very much turned out not to be the case.
09:10The end result was darker, weirder, and more alienating to wide audiences than the first
09:15film, which maintained a light tone despite its dark appearance.
09:20With that in mind, history has since been kind to Adam's Family Values, and modern-day
09:25audiences can truly appreciate its ahead-of-its-time edginess and willingness to go there, at least
09:31more so than the first film had.
09:49Number 2.
09:5022 Jump Street We swear we didn't place this sequel to
10:0321 Jump Street at number 2 as a joke.
10:05It's really just that good.
10:07Even at the time of its release, Phil Lord and Chris Miller's film was widely recognized
10:12as not only matching, but surpassing their franchise's first installment.
10:29To quote the Toronto Star's review, if it seemed Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill couldn't
10:33possibly exceed their over-the-top buddy-cop antics of 21 Jump Street, you lost that bet.
10:39The goofy, wink-wink tone of 21 is amplified here, peppering in hilarious meta-commentary
10:44about how comedy sequels supposedly never work.
10:48It probably goes without saying that this one does.
11:02Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:06Hot Shots, Part 2 Lovingly ribbing over the top 80s action movies.
11:22Horrible Bosses 2 This dark comedy is bolstered by its even
11:25more star-studded cast.
11:36Scary Movie 2 The Wayans family goes big, not home.
11:49Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
11:53about our latest videos.
11:55You have the option to be notified for occasional videos, or all of them.
11:59If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
12:06Paddington 2 Sure, everyone knows that director Paul King's
12:21Paddington films are total heartwarming tearjerkers.
12:25But it's also more important to remember the distinctive, zany streak of comedy that
12:29runs through them.
12:30In shorts, they're hilarious.
12:44This crime caper finds the ever-kind, ever-polite bear wrongly accused of a dastardly deed that
12:50he didn't commit.
12:51In reality, Paddington has been framed by has-been actor-slash-cat-burglar Phoenix Buchanan,
12:57played to comic perfection by a never-better Hugh Grant.
13:10To reiterate, this is a movie in which a little talking bear goes to prison and ends up running
13:15the place.
13:16You'll be crying, yes, but also of laughter.
13:34What's your favorite funny follow-up?
13:36Did it make our list?
13:37Be sure to let us know in the comments!
13:45Did you enjoy this video?
13:47Check out these other clips from WatchMojo!
13:49And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.