It’s a generally accepted fact that there are very few good prequels; George Lucas certainly cemented it as a truism in the popular consciousness… In fairness, it is hard to create a compelling story when the audience already knows the ending, and it’s difficult to explain the origins of characters who the audience already know without flattening them and making them less interesting. But while there have been some utter disasters —
The Phantom Menace,
Hannibal Rising, the list goes on — there have been a handful of others which have been well worth watching. Here we list 10 of the best movie prequels of all time.
10. Infernal Affairs 2
The Martin Scorsese movie
The Departed was, of course, originally based on a wildly successful and quite brilliant series of Hong Kong cops-vs-triads thrillers. The prequel to the original
Infernal Affairs,
Infernal Affairs II sets up all of the intrigue and counter-intrigue which takes place in the first movie. The Chinese series was probably even more acclaimed and respected than the American version, and the second movie in the series was considered almost as good as the first. Just like
The Departed, the film is set over a number of years and involves moles working for both the gangsters and the police, attempting to work their way deeper into each others’ respective organizations. Tension reigns throughout…
9. Paranormal Activity 2
The first
Paranormal Activity was a low-budget fright-fest, pretty much the suburban answer to
The Blair Witch Project. The prequel — which is set a few weeks before the start of the first movie and focuses on the sister of the original’s possessed protagonist — delivers plenty more of the same minimalistic psychological horror. Here, the plot device of there being cameras everywhere in the house is justified by a supposed break-in that the family suffers at the beginning of the movie (which, as you can probably guess, isn’t a real break-in at all…). The old Hollywood saying goes “never work with kids or animals”:
Paranormal Activity 2 uses both in the creepiest way possible, and although it feels like a retread of the original in parts, there are a couple of scenes which will put you off raising or even being around a baby for the rest of your life. What’s more, the forthcoming
Paranormal Activity 3 will be another step yet further back in time, predating both the first two movies.
8. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Who couldn’t think more
Indiana Jones was a good idea? Well, maybe plenty of people after the disappointment that was
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; but back in the Eighties, when Harrison Ford wasn’t gray, things were different.
Temple of Doom was the sequel to the first hit movie, but was set before the adventurer had acquired the scar on his chin and was experienced enough to carry a gun at all times to deal with aggressive swordsmen. While not quite as good as
Raiders of the Lost Ark, it had a number of very memorable moments (the insects crawling over Willie; the dinner scene; the heart-ripping, Kali-worshiping bad guy, Mola Ram) and added plenty more whip-cracking action to the franchise. Are we the only folks who think the karate-kicking Short Round is just awesome?
7. Zulu Dawn
The prequel to the jingoistic Michael Caine classic
Zulu was intended to equal its predecessor in popularity, and, while it didn’t quite manage this, it’s definitely worth a watch. The movie portrayed the colonial British army’s defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana, which is mainly remembered for its being so disastrous for the red-coated boys as one of the few times that “natives” armed with spears defeated a professional army armed with cannons and rifles (notwithstanding the Zulus’ vast numerical superiority). The movie may not have had quite the punch of
Zulu but it showcases good acting, big budget battle scenes and, for history geeks, a faithful representation of the actual events.
6. X-Men: First Class
The
X-Men franchise definitely lost its way after
X2, which is why
Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn decided to bring it back to its roots by focusing on the two characters who made it interesting in the first place: Magneto and Xavier. The resulting movie was much better than the deeply lame attempt at a prequel that was
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (although it could hardly have been worse) and added more interesting backstory to some of the most popular characters in the series, without the horrible awkwardness of
The Last Stand. Yes, uniquely among later installments of the franchise,
First Class had a story which was actually compelling. At least the improvement in quality helped the filmmakers put the craptacular third movie behind them…
5. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Hayden Christensen may not be fit to lick James Earl Jones’ shiny black metal helmet (and the fact that he transforms into him, voice and all, by the end of the movie is somewhat less than believable) but the third
Star Wars prequel was still, actually, pretty good. It’s no excuse for the others, though, George! Despite maintaining the cringe-inducing dialogue uttered in the rest of the trilogy, this was far and away the best of Lucas’ films released in the later Nineties/early Noughties, and it even managed to feel appropriately epic with scenes like the “birth” of Darth Vader. The acting was also somewhat improved, with Ewan McGregor managing a more-or-less credible Alec Guinness impersonation for the first time in the series (although since Guinness was famously phoning it in on the set of
Star Wars that might not have been the best example to try to imitate). All in all, a definite step up in quality from the rest of the series which so besmirched the infinitely superior originals.
4. Red Dragon
This prequel to
The Silence of the Lambs involved retired police profiler Will Graham coming out of retirement to catch the goofily named “Tooth Fairy” serial killer. It wasn’t as good as
Silence of the Lambs as it lacked the sympathetic central performance of Jodie Foster, but it’s not anything like bad, and you could add Anthony Hopkins’ hammy Hannibal to practically any movie (cough! except
Hannibal Rising) and make it reasonably entertaining. Just imagine a version of
The King’s Speech with him playing the therapist; now that would be a good movie… although his interests in the human brain might make it rather shorter. Returning to
Red Dragon, it’s worth noting that Ralph Fiennes did a sterling job as the main villain. Particularly creepy are the scenes between the “Tooth Fairy” and his oblivious love interest, who at least had the excuse of being literally blind to her boyfriend’s many, many deep-seated flaws…
3. Star Trek (2009)
Just when you thought ‘Trek was all rubber-headed aliens, babble about the Prime Directive and Patrick Stewart’s big bald head, this modern take on the franchise revitalized the
Star Trek brand. The 2009 film, which featured a younger, more rebellious Captain Kirk battling to save the galaxy from a time-traveling spaceship, was successful enough to become the highest-grossing movie in the series so far. As well as being a reboot, the film also serves as a prequel due to the appearance of younger versions of nearly all of the main characters in the first series. Trekkies will also appreciate the appearance of the original Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, and sci-fi fans in general will appreciate the fact that the new Spock is played by Zachary Quinto, better known as the brain-sucking supervillain, Sylar, from the NBC series
Heroes. Word.
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Sergio Leone’s atmospheric and brilliantly shot Western is actually a prequel to the other two films in his “Dollars” trilogy (
A Fistful of Dollars and
For a Few Dollars More). The movie, set during the Civil War, reintroduces the iconic Man With No Name (“the Good”) and has him acquire his signature outfit as the film unfolds. Lee Van Cleef serves up a menacing performance as the villain Angel Eyes (“the Bad”) but the real star of the show is Tuco (“the Ugly”) — a bandit with a pathos-filled backstory who manages to be hilarious, threatening and pitiful at the same time (a bit like Tom Cruise’s appearance on
Oprah…). Many of the movie’s scenes are so overblown that they border on a parody of normal Westerns, yet it also works as a complete
tour de force in its own right. A must watch for movie lovers.
1. The Godfather: Part II
Most people believe that movie series tend to get worse the longer they go on. In many cases they’re right, but a major piece of proof to the contrary is
The Godfather: Part II, which is considered not only one of the best prequels ever made but one of the best films of all time, period. A large part of the movie is set in the early 1900s (sequences which originally appeared in the first book in Mario Puzo’s series of novels) and deals with the young Vito Corleone’s arrival in the US and how he got into the “Family” business. Robert De Niro’s Academy Award-winning role as the young Godfather is considered one of his best performances (and given that this was only one year after he made
Mean Streets and two before he made
Taxi Driver that’s saying something). With its awesome time shifts, everything good about the original
Godfather was made even better in
Part II, so that even Marlon Brando’s absence doesn’t really hurt it. A prequel and a sequel in one package? An offer you can’t refuse.
Bonus: Ring 0: Birthday
The
Ring horror movies don’t have a lot of depth; they’re mainly based on the fact that curses and women who can crawl out of TV screens are inherently creepy. Furthermore, sequels and prequels tend to peter out after a few years: although many franchises can sustain one or two good sequels, not many can manage three (just ask Joel Schumacher). That’s why it’s a surprise that the prequel/fourth film in the Japanese series,
Ring 0: Birthday, is such a good film. This TV movie offers us the origin of troubled psychic-girl Sadako, before she gained the power to curse people with videotapes and while she was still alive). Sadako is normally peaceful but, as you might expect in a movie of this nature, people pissing her off leads to her going all Carrie come the end. Definitely a must-see for fans of the franchise.
