Third Time's a Charm: 15 Superior Threequels

Though The Two Towers had its merits — the sequel was, after all, nominated for Best Picture — it also suffered from a slight case of Middle Child Syndrome: Towers was more setup than punchline, Andy Serkis's iconic Gollum and the Battle of Helm's Deep notwithstanding. By contrast, The Return of the King made good on everything that had been building since The Fellowship of the Ring, leading to an epic, emotional conclusion. And another. And one more for good measure. But multiple endings aside, there's a reason that this was the LOTR film that actually won that preciousss Best Picture statuette. —Hillary Busis

Chris Columbus' first two installments of the Harry Potter movie franchise were faithful adaptations of the books, but it wasn't until Alfonso Cuarón took over that the series really popped. Mixing the intrigue of the wizard world with the real-life angst of now-teenage Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the film delivered both laughs and thrills but also one heck of a gutpunch courtesy of godfather convict Sirius Black (Gary Oldman). Mischief — and movie magic — was definitely managed. —Erin Strecker

Ocean's Twelve may have been a big joke audiences weren't in on, but the franchise re-found its footing with the third outing. Ditching Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones and gaining Al Pacino, the boys (including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon) had their fun while keeping the rest of us simultaneously charmed and entertained. Crime never looked so cool. —Erin Strecker

A case of strength building upon strength, the ultra-violent, 177-minute concluding chapter of Sergio Leone's spaghetti Western trilogy had a lot to match after the unparalleled success of 1964's A Fist Full of Dollars and 1965's For a Few Dollars More. Not only did The Good, the Bad and the Ugly match its predecessors' achievements, it bested them. To this day, Leone's masterpiece remains a benchmark for the Western genre that homage-paying auteur Quentin Tarantino deemed ''the best-directed film of all time'' and and ''the greatest achievement in the history of cinema.'' —Lanford Beard

Matt Damon's identity-thieved superspy only got better with age. All respect to Jason Bourne's paramour partner in crime Marie (Franke Potente), but the loss of a romantic plotline freed up Bourne to do what he did best: kick almighty ass. At one point with a book. In short, the series showed no signs of fatigue. —Lanford Beard

How superior was Goldfinger as a James Bond sequel? Even after 20 more Bond films and 49 years, Goldfinger is still widely considered the best in the series. Previous Bond films Dr. No and From Russia With Love were acclaimed hits, yet they still felt vaguely similar to other 1960s spy dramas. Goldfinger elevated the franchise into its own mythic new genre. The secret was catching Sean Connery at his physical peak in the starring role and a story that smelted a perfect blend of classic Bond elements — globe-trotting locations (South America, Miami, Switzerland, and Kentucky), formidable villains (the improbably named gold-obsessed Auric Goldfinger and his bowler-throwing henchman Oddjob), gadgets (that well-equipped Aston Martin), and, of course, Pussy Galore. —James Hibberd

Sorry, Team Jacob fans. While New Moon simply seemed like a two-hour excuse for shirtlessness (not that we were complaining), Eclipse got back to the steamy Edward and Bella romance that was the (cold, dead) heart of the series. Even better, for sitting through the teens' moping in the sequel, Eclipse rewarded fans with plenty of action and favorite book moments including Edward, Bella, and Jacob's night in a tent (a.k.a. the ''I'm hotter than you'' scene). The movie even ends with an engagement — although wedding night fun had to wait until Breaking Dawn. —Erin Strecker

With Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the gang, you really can't lose. But after 1981's The Great Muppet Caper was criticized for being ''too nice, too routine, too predictable, and too safe,'' Manhattan raised the stakes. As if to say, ''You want edge? We'll give you edge,'' it kickstarted the film with a con artist, a hostage situation, and the breaking apart of the Muppet crew as they had to (gasp!) enter the real world for (shock!) real jobs. Once they were apart, we knew how dire it was they get back together — though some truly hilarious cameos by the likes of Joan Rivers, Gregory Hines, Liza Minnelli, and Brooke Shields eased the pain along the way. Also: Miss Piggy took down a Central Park purse snatcher on roller skates. For that alone, you win every time, Muppets Take Manhattan! —Lanford Beard

J.J. Abrams' entry in Tom Cruise's spy series wasn't nearly as involved (some might say convoluted) as John Woo's M:I II — lacking its loop-de-loop action sequences and plot turns. Instead, the Cruise-picked Abrams brought the film's stakes down to a human level, giving Ethan Hunt an early retirement at the beginning and then trashing it. The result was a novel objective for the series — happiness. (Added bonus: Keri Russell, eyes blazing, as a fellow spy.) —Adam Carlson

Even director Steven Spielberg wasn't a big fan of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: ''It was too dark, too subterranean, and much too horrific,'' he said five years after the film's release. (That darkness, incidentally, helped lead to the creation of the PG-13 rating.) Thankfully, The Last Crusade found the sense of fun that Doom had forsaken, adding in a witty Sean Connery as Indy's aloof dad for good measure. It was a fitting end to the whip-cracking adventure saga — especially compared to the fourth Jones flick, released 19 years later. —Hillary Busis

Who cares about a tissue-thin plot when you've got bubbles and crumpers on dog chains coming at you? A shamelessly — and absolutely perfect — gratuitous use of poke-you-in-the-eye 3-D, Step Up 3D took a winning formula (flash + flesh + eye-popping tricks = dance nerd heaven) to the next level. Casting So You Think You Can Dance vets also upped the star power in a franchise marked by no-names, making this far and away the series MVP. —Lanford Beard

Despite a notoriously difficult production process — a rotating team of screenwriters, several long delays, lots of negative press about Will Smith's gigantic trailer blocking New York City streets — MIB III was one of the 2012 blockbuster season's biggest, most pleasant surprises. Its goofy time travel plot breathed new life into a flailing franchise, thanks especially to Michael Stuhlbarg's lovable Griffin, Jemaine Clement's snarling Boris the Animal, and Josh Brolin's spot-on Tommy Lee Jones impression. And despite an ending we still can't quite make sense of, the flick managed to neutralize away our collective memory of the dumb, perfunctory Men in Black II. —Hillary Busis

The first of the Die Hard movies not to feature Christmas, the third installment in the high-octane franchise borrowed a page from Lethal Weapon and gave John McClane a worthy partner-in-crime: the foul-mouthed Zeus, played by none other than Samuel L. Jackson. While featuring Samuel L. automatically upgrades your film to ''awesome'' (except maybe in the case of the Star Wars prequels), Die Hard: With a Vengeance is further buoyed by the presence of Jeremy Irons as Simon, the pissed-off younger brother of the late Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). With his penchant for riddles and peroxide blonde hair, how's a girl to resist? Bonus: Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh's ploy for robbing the Federal Reserve was so good, the FBI actually detained him for questioning. Now that's entertainment. —Tara Fowler

Only one Star Wars prequel came close to recapturing the magic of the original trilogy — and it sure as hell wasn't Episode II — Attack of the Clones. Sith trades its predecessor's dull focus on alien politics for the dark, intense tale of how Anakin Skywalker truly became Darth Vader. Stiff as the dialogue may be, the film gets major points for keeping us invested in a story to which we already know the ending — and for barely mentioning or showing bumbling Jar Jar Binks at all. —Hillary Busis

Let's get one thing straight: We're not saying that Dark of the Moon was a good movie. It was, however, less of a mess than Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen — a ''horrible experience of unbearable length'' that director Michael Bay eventually blamed on the 2007-08 Writers' Strike. By contrast, Dark of the Moon boasted better visuals, more exciting action, and a relatively coherent plot. Faint praise, to be sure, but praise nonetheless. —Hillary Busis