The Sequel Was Better? The Terminator vs. T2: Judgment Day

The Sequel Was Better? is a series of reviews looking at famous movies with sequels that are considered, rightly or wrongly, to be better than the original movies. Typically, sequels are a step down in quality, acting, and/or production value. But not always. See other reviews here.

The Terminator turned forty last year! 1984 was a long time ago, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was young and willing to play a villain. The Terminator is a seminal sci-fi picture that spawned a lot of sequels and sidequels. Since time travel is a key component of the plot, things were bound to get wonky as Hollywood squeezed more money out of a classic. The movie's first sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, was even more popular and is also considered a classic in the genre. But is it the better movie? Let's find out...

The Terminator (1984) co-written and directed by James Cameron

An opening scrawl sets up the situation: In the future (2029, so not too far away now), machines have risen up against humanity after a nuclear war. A glimpse of the conflict is shown--air ships and futuristic tanks fire on fleeing human soldiers. After the credits, the story moves to 1984, where a naked man (Arnold Schwaarzenegger) shows up by a Los Angeles dump truck at 1:52 a.m. with a lot of electrical discharges around him. He walks off, running into some punks. After a brief and odd conversation, he demands their clothes. They pull knives on him and he rams his fist through one guy's chest, pulling out his heart. The other guys start to undress. 

In another part of town, another electrical discharge lets out another naked guy (Michael Biehn) who is in worse shape. He takes some pants from a homeless guy and is pursued by the cops. He corners one cop, takes his gun and asks the date, including the year. The other cops chase him into a department store where he gets more clothes and escapes. He manages to steal a shotgun from a police car and then walks off into the dark night. He finds a phone book and takes the page that lists three Sarah Connors.

The next day, one of the Sarah Conors (Linda Hamilton) rides her moped to a waitress job, late again. She has a hard time with her customers (partly her own fault) though her coworkers are supportive. Meanwhile the first guy goes to a gun store and asks for a lot of weapons. When the clerk tries to get him to pay, the guy shoots him. Also meanwhile, the second guy saws off the shotgun stock so he can hide it under his coat. The first guy gets into a car, finds a phone booth and the list of Sarah Connors, then drives to the first one's house. He executes her with ruthless efficiency. Back at the diner, Sarah's co-workers bring her into the back room where the local news reports on the first Connors's death. They have a laugh about their friend being dead.

At night, the second guy lays low in a hot-wired car and has a flashback to his life as a soldier fighting against the machines in the 21st century. He definitely has some PTSD issues. Sarah and her roommate Ginger get ready to go out. The phone rings and Sarah answers. It's Ginger's boyfriend who pretends to be a stalker and talks dirty on the phone. Sarah laughs it off. Then they check phone messages--Sarah's date has canceled. She decides to go to a movie while Ginger goes on her date. As she leaves, she's a bit paranoid about being followed, which guy number two is in fact doing. 

At a police precinct, Lt. Traxler (Paul Winfield) looks at a report of a second killing, another Sarah Connor. The press have showed up and the Lieutenant gives them the "No comment" treatment. The cops have tried to contact Sarah Connor #3 (that's Linda Hamilton) in the phone book, but they have been unsuccessful. They try again, but Ginger and her boyfriend are having sex and ignoring the phone. Traxler decides to make a statement to the press so Sarah might see the report and contact them. Sarah's at a restaurant and sees the report of the two shootings and decides to go for a walk after she sees she's next in the phone book. She spots guy number two following her and ducks into a nightclub that has a working payphone. She contacts the cops who tell her to stay put and they will send a unit to pick her up.

Back at Sarah's apartment, guy number one shows up and kills the couple. After putting six bullets in Ginger, the phone rings. Sarah is calling and leaves a message, letting guy number one know exactly where she is. Before leaving, he goes through Sarah's address book and finds a photo ID. He heads off to the club, looking for her in the crowd. Guy number two is there too. The first guy spots Sarah and moves in for the kill. Guy two shoots guy one five times with the shotgun, but guy one gets up and still tries to kill Sarah. Another round of shots throw number one through the front window. To Sarah's amazement he gets up yet again and guy two tells her, "Come with me if you want to live." They sneak out back where they get in his car. Number one chases them on foot, eventually jumping on the hood and punching through the windshield to get Sarah. They manage to get him off the car and flee past a cop car. Number one knocks out the cop and takes his vehicle.

As they drive off, number two explains that he is Kyle Reese and he is here to help her. She's been targeted for termination. She doesn't believe it but he explains that the first man is a Terminator, a machine sent from the future to kill her. The Terminator is part machine, part man, so he bleeds but is never really hurt. He has no fear, remorse, or pity. And he won't stop. She has a hard time believing he's from the future. He's just a combat grunt, so he doesn't know the technicalities of how he got there or a good way to explain the science. They abandon the vehicle in a parking garage but the cops spot it. The Terminator hears about the abandoned car on police radio and heads over while Reese hot-wires another car. Sarah asks why the machine wants to kill her. He tells her she will be the mother of John Connor, the head of the resistance that rises up after the nuclear war that happens in the future. A machine network was set up to run national defenses, but it decided that all humans were the enemy and started an all-out war on people. Reese grew up after the nuclear holocaust so he only knows the aftermath. Sarah hasn't had the child yet. The Terminator finds them in the garage and another chase scene leads them out into the streets where the Terminator's cop car crashes into a wall. The other cops have finally caught up, so Sarah and Reeese are taken into custody while the Terminator has vanished from the scene.

At the police precinct, the criminal psychologist Doctor Silberman (Earl Boen) evaluates Sarah and Reese. She's having a breakdown as she finds out Ginger has been killed in her place. The Terminator returns to its flophouse room where it fixes its broken arm and takes out a ruined eye with an exacto knife. It collects some new weapons and puts on a pair of sunglasses to cover the exposed mechanical eye. Meanwhile Silberman gets a statement from Reese, getting more detail of how he traveled back in time. John Connor seized the time travel facility, sent Reese back, then blew it up so no one else could come back. Sarah sees the videotape of the Reese interview. The doctor is happy that the story is so airtight and lacks holes, even though he thinks its bonkers. Reese starts to rant about the robot killing Sarah. They all think he's crazy and try to come up with excuses how the Terminator didn't die when shot (maybe tactical armor?). They convince her to try and take a nap on a couch while her mother comes down from her remote cabin to take care of her. The doctor leaves for the night as the Terminator walks into the precinct. The front desk officer refuses to let him see Sarah. The Terminator looks over the structure and then says, "I'll be back." He drives his car through the front of the precinct then starts shooting up the whole place. The lieutenant tries to keep Sarah safe. Reese manages to escape and takes Sarah out of the precinct and they flee again. They hide out under a bridge where she shows her first survival skills as she bandages one of Reese's wounds. They talk about Reese's life and what John is like. She asks about the father but no one knows who he is. Reese says he volunteered to come back to see the legendary Sarah Connor who trained John to be organized and ready to fight. She scoffs at the idea that she is competent enough for what she will face. Reese tells her a message from John, a short inspiring speech. They get some rest as another flashback reveals that Reese had a picture of Sarah that John had given him. Meanwhile, the Terminator goes through Sarah's address book and goes to her mom's cabin.

The next morning, Sarah and Reese hitchhike to a hotel and get a room with a kitchen. Reese plans to make explosives, so he goes for supplies while Sarah tries to relax. He leaves her with a gun. She calls her mom who convinces Sarah to tell her where she is. Of course, her mom is dead and the Terminator is using the mom's voice on the phone. The Terminator calls the hotel to get the address. Reese returns and they work together making bombs. She still is nervous and shaky and does not feel heroic at all. Sarah asks if Reese had a girlfriend in the future. He didn't and winds up admitting that he's in love with her as he talks about the picture of her. They have sex. Later on, as they are dressing, they hear the hotel owner's dog barking and make a quick exit out the back as the Terminator shoots up their room. They drive off as he chases them on his motorcycle. Kyle is shot and both vehicles crash. The Terminator is run over by a gas truck, which naturally does not kill him. He takes over the truck and tries to run down their vehicle. Sarah and Reese barely make it out. Reese puts one of the homemade bombs in the truck's tailpipe, resulting in a huge explosion. Sarah and Reese survive. They think they have won, but the Terminator rises back up out of the wreckage with all its flesh burnt off, leaving a gleaming exoskeleton. 

They race into a factory where they start the machines to distract the Terminator. After some running around and menacing, Reese is able to plant the last bomb inside the Terminator's skeleton, blowing it apart. By this point, Sarah has developed a lot more toughness, bearing up with serious gash in her leg. The explosion has killed Reese, who could not get away. And the Terminator still isn't destroyed. The top half of its body drags itself after her. She lures it into a press where it is completely crushed. Except for one hand that was reaching out for her. She's taken off to a hospital while Reese winds up in a body bag.

The movie ends with a recovered and very pregnant Sarah driving to Mexico. She's recording tapes, explaining what has happened, mostly to help her remember. She's trying to decide whether to tell John that Kyle is his dad. She stops for gas and a local boy takes her picture and sells it to her to make some money. It's the picture that Reese had in the future. The boy then says that a storm is coming in. Sarah says, "I know," and drives off. Cue the credits.

The special effects look dated by today's standards. A lot of the models look like models (the fake Terminator head that cuts its eye out looks animatronic even though a lot of effort was put into the effect) and some green screen scenes are obvious. The stop-motion Terminator is very noticeable even if it is a step up from the Ray Harryhausen movies of the previous decade. A lot of the night exteriors look very gritty which fits the movie's tone. The budget clearly wasn't big, but the film makers made the most of the situation. The editing is very tight, helping to sell the lesser effects. There are a lot of exciting and well-executed fights and chases.

The score is almost completely synthesizers, like a lot of late 1970s and 1980s movies. It has a lot of intensity and works well, with some mechanistic beats and a distinctive sound. It helps to connect the bleak future landscape to the current day happenings.

The story is well written. The psychologist is right when he claims Reese's narrative leave no real holes. The time travel is consistent, not relying on a huge flip or a completely altered world at the end. The theme of machines both being a help and a problem is strung throughout the film. On her answering machine, Sarah claims even machines need love! That particular machine is mostly a hinderance for her but the factory at the end turns out to be a boon.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1992) co-written and directed by James Cameron

In a brief, pre-credits sequence, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) gives a voice-over monologue the future apocalyptic landscape and history, mentioning the first Terminator sent back in 1984 as viewers watch humans futilely battle the machines of Skynet. A second Terminator is sent in 1992 to kill young John Connor (Edward Furlong) before he can grow up to be the leader of the human resistance against Skynet. A lone hero was also sent by the resistance to protect John.

After the credit's Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator (hereafter AT) arrives. He walks over naked to a honky-tonk bar where he takes the clothes and motorcycle of one of the patrons in a humorous and violent sequence. Another Terminator (Robert Patrick) shows up across town by some tractor trailers. A cop is in the area and sees the lightening effects of the time travel and goes to investigate. He is taken out by this other Terminator, who gets in the squad car and starts looking for John Connor. This second Terminator (hereafter T2) is made of some sort of liquid metal and can shape-shift into, among other things, people it has come in contact with.

The next day, John Connor is with his foster parents in suburban Los Angeles. John's mother Sarah is in a high-security asylum called Pescadero. He has no respect for his adopted parents and leaves them behind as he takes a friend to the mall.

At the insane asylum, Doctor Silberman (Earl Boen again) explains to some interns the history of the first film from his perspective while Sarah is in her cell. She works out and is in trim shape.

T2 shows up at the foster parent's house and finds out John went to the mall and that a big guy on a motorbike was already there. John uses the survival skills his real mom taught him to steal money from an ATM to have fun at the local mall. He cruises over there with another delinquent boy on a dirt bike. They play video games as the two Terminators approach the mall. 

Sarah has a psych evaluation with Silberman. They watch a video where she derangedly describes the destruction that will happen in the future. Now she is trying to convince Silverman to transfer her to minimum security where she could see her son. She denies her belief in that future, claiming the company hasn't covered up any evidence of the first Terminator, i.e. any leftover bits at the factory. The movie cuts to Miles Dyson (Joe Morton) who works at Cyberdyne which does have the leftover arm and a microchip from the Terminator in the first film. Back at the asylum, Silberman refuses her request and she flips out.

Meanwhile, the AT and T2 search the mall for John. John's friend tips him off that a cop is looking for him. John flees to the access hallways of the mall where he runs into AT who pulls out a shotgun. John runs in the other direction where T2 shows up. AT protects John and fires several shots into T2, which only temporarily stops him. The machines get in a fist fight and John slips away. John makes it to his dirt bike in the garage. T2 almost catches up to him on foot. On the streets, T2 commandeers a truck and a big action sequence ensues with AT following on his motorcycle. The chase winds up in a drainage ditch where T2's truck crashes in a fiery explosion. AT and John escape on the motor bike while the T2 walks out of the burning wreckage.

Once they are safe, John has AT stop and talks to him about what he is and what is going on. AT says his mission is to protect John. In fact, AT was sent by future John. AT wants to leave town to keep him safe. John wants to warn his foster parents even though they are annoying. They call from a payphone only to find out that the T2 is already there trying to find John. John and AT continue to flee and John comes to realize Sarah is right about the apocalyptic future. John also discovers AT will follow any orders he gives. They argue about the next step. John wants to save his mom and AT thinks it is a bad idea. John orders AT to help him without killing anyone.

Back at the asylum, Sarah is told that AT is back (they have pictures from the mall) and John is missing. She manages to steal a paperclip from the photos. The T2 shows up as a cop and gets into the asylum where he plans to kill and copy Sarah. Sarah is strapped into her bed but she is able to unlock herself with the paperclip. She starts her escape as T2 copies one of the workers and moves in. She takes Silberman hostage and tries to talk her way out. That doesn't work and she winds up racing down the hallways to escape the guards. She runs into AT, which scares the living daylights out of her. John tries to calm her down. She barely does when T2 shows up, walks through a barred door and starts another shooting match with AT. Another chase and battle happens as John, Sarah, and AT barely escape the asylum in a cop car. 

They stop at an abandoned gas station to hide out. They patch up their wounds and talk about things. AT says his wounds will heal and he has a neural net processor for a brain so he can learn from humans as he has more exposure. They steal a station wagon and head south. John gives AT some pointers on how to blend in using slang. They stop for gas and food and see two kids pretending to fight. They have some discussion of humanity's future--AT says humans have an inclination to destroy each other. Sarah asks AT for details about how Skynet rises. AT tells her about Dyson and how he develops a microchip that sends Cybrerdyne down the path of success, getting military contracts and eventuially automating the military, bringing about Skynet.

They continue traveling to one of Sarah's old Mexican friends. They have a warm reception but all Sarah wants is new clothes and supplies from the weapon stash hidden there. John and AT gather weapons and he gives AT backstory about their lives on the run. John reveals that he knows who his father is. John talks about crying, something AT does not understand. They get along. Sarah has another voiceover monologue about how great AT would be as a father, always being there for John, never worrying about himself. She thinks he'd make a good father figure for John, better than any of the guys she has been with. She falls asleep and has another nightmare about the nuclear destruction in 1997. She wakes up to see she's carved "NO FATE" on the picnic table where she fell asleep. With a renewed sense of purpose, she races off to kill Dyson before he can start the apocalypse. John and AT go after her.

John and AT talk in the car. John does not want his mom to kill Dyson. AT does not understand why. At Dyson's house, Sarah fills it full of bullet holes, though a convenient circumstance enables Dyson to avoid getting killed immediately. She bursts in and threatens the whole family. She says it is all his fault but he does not understand. Ultimately, she can't kill Dyson. John and AT show up and explain what is going on. Dyson decides to destroy his research after he sees AT peel the skin and flesh off his arm, reveals his endoskeleton (and an arm just like the one at Cyberdyne). They go to Cyberdyne to destroy the chip and arm along with the research. Sarah gives another voice-over about how things might actually change as they drive to the research lab.

Dyson gets them in past the initial security but as they progress inside, the silent alarm is tripped and everything is locked down. John breaks out his ATM equipment to open the vault with the arm and chip while the rest of them destroy the computers and other records. Other security in the building calls in the cops. Meanwhile, T2 shows up at Dyson's home and sees the burning records. He hears the police report about the break-in at Cyberdyne and heads over.

Lots and lots of cops have shown up since Sarah and AT were identified as the intruders. AT reassures John he will not kill anyone as he fights the cops. He breaks out a window and starts shooting up all their cars, forcing the cops to move further back. A SWAT team in gas masks infiltrate the building, hoping to stop the heroes. They get far enough to pin down the Connors and AT. Dyson is holding the detonator for the explosives but gets shot up. His dying act is to blow up the research floor while giving everyone (including the SWAT team) time to escape. 

Back in the building lobby, AT and Sarah shoot their way out without killing any of the cops in another exciting fight sequence. By this point, T2 has shown up, riding his bike up to the blown-out research floor. AT goes out and takes the SWAT truck, drives it into the building, picks up Sarah and John, and heads out. T2 sees this from upstairs and jumps out onto a helicopter, taking it over to pursue the truck. The truck is loaded with weapons, so Sarah fires at the chopper as AT drives. Another exciting chase scene/fire fight happens. The copter eventually crashes into the truck and truck falls over. T2 takes a truck with a load of liquid nitrogen while the Connors and AT commandeer a private pickup truck. The chase continues till they wind up in a steel factory. AT jumps on the nitrogen truck and causes it to crash. The liquid nitrogen spills everywhere. The factory workers flee as the T2 walks away, though it freezes solid from the nitrogen. AT says "Hasta la vista, baby" as he shoots the solid T2 which shatters to bits. The liquid metal from the factory starts melting the T2 bits, which start to come back together. The Connors and AT head into the factory for the final confrontation.

XXXXThe T2 stalks after them. They split up, with AT fighting T2 hand-to-hand, resulting in AT's arm getting caught in the factory's mechanical gear. As T2 goes off to find the Connors, AT breaks off his arm so he can pursue. John goes into hiding as Sarah starts fighting the T2. Her gun isn't enough to stop him. He demands she call John back. She stalls enough for AT to get back in the fight, where T2 beats him with a huge piece of hanging metal and then stabs him through the back, causing AT to shut down. Sarah reloads as John crawls through the plant. AT reboots and gets back in the action. John hears his mom calling for help, goes to investigate. His real mom appears behind the T2 pretending to be his mom. She shoots T2 multiple times, forcing him to the edge of the railing over a lake of molten metal. Her ammo runs out but AT show up with his bigger gun and shoot T2 over the edge. T2 melts into nothing in the lava-like metal.

They pick up AT to look at the destroyed T2. John throws in the chip and hand from Cyberdyne. Then they realize they have to destroy AT to ensure no tech is left. He cannot self terminate, so Sarah lowers AT into the molten steel. John objects but AT explains he must be destroyed and now he understand why humans cry even if it is something he can never do. They lower him in after Sarah shakes his hand. He slowly melts away, leaving a raised arm that makes a thumbs up before sinking into destruction.

Sarah and John drive away with another voiceover by Sarah, where she says that if the terminator can learn the value of human life, maybe we humans can too. Cue the credits.

The movie has a much larger budget which shows in the bigger special effects and set pieces. Sarah is a better developed character and Arnold gets to show some comedy in his performance, lightening the mood considerably. This is a crowd-pleasing summer movie extravaganza, well-orchestrated by Cameron.

So is the sequel better? Let's look at some points of comparison.

• SCRIPT--The script for the first film is a rough and ready action vehicle that has a smart execution of the time travel element of the story. Cameron did well with a low-budget, writing something doable and interesting, with good central characters and performances. The second movie has a much larger and more complicated script which is not as tight on the time travel element if you take Sarah's upbeat voiceover at the end as the future having changed (there's an alternate ending where Skynet hasn't happened and everything is peaceful, which makes a hash of everything that came before in the films--if Skynet never happens, how does Kyle Reese and the Terminators get sent back to stop Skynet from happening?). Slight advantage T1
• ACTING--In both films, the actors deliver solid performances that sell the script and their characters. Hamilton has a lot more to do as Sarah, going from deranged despair to a more hopeful place. Schwarzenegger is more entertaining as the good-guy Terminator, delivering some comedy in his performance. Slight advantage T2
• ADVANCES THE STORY/MYTHOLOGY--The second film builds on what came before, though there's is not much more to learn about the future (they skip over how another time travel machine was built and if it was destroyed or not). More detail is revealed about Cyberdyne and Skynet which is interesting but not the focus of the movie. The dubiously hopeful ending of T2 did not shut down the narrative as can be seen from the numerous sequels and spin-offs.
• SPECIAL EFFECTS--Obviously T2 has much better special effects thanks to the larger budget and eight years of technical advances. While the original movie has dated effects (that animatronic head! Some of the green screen work!), the sequel still holds up really well. The digital effects (i.e. liquid metal terminator) still look good because the character is a bit unreal to begin with. They do a great job with the lighting and the reflective surface, convincing viewers that the liquid metal man is really there in the scene with the human actors. Advantage T2
• VISUAL STYLE--Again, T2 looks a lot better because it involves a lot more and larger set-pieces and the effects are much better. It's less gritty than the first film but is on such a larger canvas that grittiness would probably not have worked. Cameron was brilliant at refining the style just enough to keep it Terminator. Advantage T2
• THE BIG FINALE--The first film's finale at the factory was well executed but has a bunch of effects work that has dated in the intervening years. The coda of Sarah driving to Mexico is well done and brings everything plot and thematic elements together nicely. The second film has a much bigger action sequence as the Terminators are destroyed in molten metal. Its coda is a little less convincing. It's hard to decide which is better as an ending, so...TIE

FINAL THOUGHTS

Terminator 2 is definitely the more entertaining and crowd-friendly film (even though it is R-rated). The action is exciting and well-crafted and frequent. The introduction of comedy makes it easier to take the violence (instead of killing people, AT often shoots people in the knee--the first time he does this, he quips at John, "He'll live.") For a fun time I'd watch this. But, I do enjoy the tightness of the first one. There's little waste and the growth of Sarah is satisfying. It's one of the few logically consistent time travel movies. T2 waffles a bit at the end but leaves open a consistent interpretation (which is more pessimistic than Sarah's character at the end). 

I love them both but for different reasons, making it a hard choice. Which one I would watch depends on the mood of the day. It's hard to go wrong with either.

The Sequel Was Better? Batman and his Return

The Sequel Was Better? is a series of reviews looking at famous movies with sequels that are considered, rightly or wrongly, to be better than the original movies. Typically, sequels are a step down in quality, acting, and/or production value. But not always. See other reviews here.

Batman (1989) directed by Tim Burton

A couple with a young boy leave a theater in downtown Gotham. The dad can't get a taxi and he slowly leads them into a worse neighborhood (are there any good neighborhoods in Gotham?). They go down an alley and are mugged by two thugs. The thugs go to a rooftop to split the haul. One thug is nervous about being up there because of all of the rumors about "The Bat" who has been throwing criminals off roofs. The other thug thinks it's baloney but then Batman (Michael Keaton) shows up and beats them up. He tells the baloney thug to spread the word that Batman is in town. The cops show up at the mugging and discover the criminals. Ace reporter Alexander Knox (Robert Wuhl) also show up and asks about "The Bat," his journalistic obsession. Police Lieutenant Eckhart (William Hootkins) blows him off while an injured thug goes by on an ambulance gurney mumbling about a six-foot bat. 

Eckhart has more important problems--he's on the dole with Grissom (Jack Palance), the head crime boss in Gotham. Grissom wants one of his loose-cannon underlings, Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson), out of the way. Part of it is jealousy over girlfriend Alicia (Jerry Hall) who is involved with both men. Grissom has a meeting with his lieutenants (the mob ones, not the police on the payroll) to discuss Axis Chemicals, a front for the mob that is being targeted by the uncorrupt police, led by Harvey Dent (Billy Dee Williams). Napier suggests breaking in and stealing all the records. They can pass it off as industrial espionage. Grissom makes Napier lead the raid, something Napier does not want to do.

Meanwhile, Knox has returned to his paper where fellow reporters mock his interest in "The Bat." At his desk, he discovers Vickie Vale (Kim Bassinger), a photo-journalist also interested in the Batman story. She is serious and teams up with Knox. They want to talk to Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) to find out if Batman is secretly part of the police. She has an invitation to a party at Bruce Wayne's home, a fundraiser for the failing 200th anniversary party for Gotham. People don't want to go downtown to celebrate because of all the crime and expenses are getting out of hand.

At Wayne Manor, the commissioner, the mayor (Lee Wallace), and Harvey Dent all blow off Knox. Bruce is fascinated by Vale but is called away by Alfred (Michael Gough), who is aware that the police are doing something big. Grissom has made an anonymous tip about the Axis Chemicals job and Eckhart has taken the lead. Gordon knows Eckhart is dirty and wants to stop him from killing Napier rather than taking him in custody. 

At Axis Chemicals, Napier finds the vault of files empty and knows something is up. His guys try to shoot their way out past the bad cops. In the middle of the fight, the commissioner shows up and demands that Napier not be killed. Batman also shows up and fights all the bad guys. Napier spots Eckhart and shoots him in revenge. Then Batman fights Napier. Napier shoots him but the bullet ricochets and hits Napier in the mouth. Doubled over in pain, Napier falls over a railing. Batman grabs him but after a tense moment loses his grip and Napier falls into a vat of chemicals, presumably killed. The commissioner demands Batman stay for questioning but Batman makes a quick exit. Outside the factory, a deck of cards and a pale hand come up out of a toxic lake where the chemicals have been dumped. Napier has survived.

Bruce has an awkward date with Vickie Vale at Wayne Manor but they sleep together anyway. Meanwhile, Napier has gone to an illegal surgery where the doctor removes the bandages. Viewers don't see the results but Napier does when he looks in a mirror. He starts laughing maniacally. He goes back to Grissom's and kills him after declaring he is now Joker. Later, he meets with Grissom's other associates and tells them he is taking over. After killing one of them brutally, the others fall in line. Joker then starts a plan to kill people in Gotham by tainting products with Smylex, a drug that induces death by laughing with the same rictus grin that Joker has. Joker even broadcasts on TV, explaining that the chemicals are in a variety of products already on the market, though only certain combinations cause results. Batman sees the broadcast and looks for the combination of products that causes the negative reaction.

Vale is lured to the Gotham art museum by an invitation to dinner from Bruce, but it is really the Joker who invited her. When he shows up, he and his henchmen vandalize the art. He tries to convince Vale he is an artist too. Batman arrives and rescues Vale. He takes her to the Batcave where he gives her all his research on Smylex. He then returns her to her apartment.

Bruce goes to Vale's apartment planning to reveal that he is Batman but the Joker arrives and interrupts. Joker shots Bruce. Bruce has hidden a serving tray under his shirt so he survives, disappearing while Joker blathers on at Vale. Later, Alfred brings Vale to the Batcave in hopes of Bruce being happy with her. Bruce decides he needs to fight Joker, who has promised to have a parade for the 200th anniversary at which he will give out free money. 

At the parade, Joker does give out money but he also releases Smylex gas from the parade balloons to kill the crowds. Batman shows up in the Batwing, steals the balloons, and is shot down by the Joker. The Batwing crashes at Gotham Cathedral. Joker takes Vale hostage and climbs the cathedral's bell tower. Batman follows, fights Joker at the top of the tower, resulting in the death of the Joker and the rescue of Vale.

The movie ends with Gordon revealing the Bat-signal, a spotlight to summon Batman in times of need. Alfred takes Vale to Wayne Manor, explaining Bruce will be late because of other business. She says she is not surprised. Queue the credits.

Batman Returns (1992) directed by Tim Burton

The Cobblepots have a newborn son who is horrifying to them. By Christmas, they are ready to toss the child off a bridge into Gotham's sewers. The baby carrier floats down the river like Moses's basket, into the sewers under Gotham Zoo where the child winds up with penguins at the arctic exhibit. 

33 years later, it's Christmas again. At the Gotham Square Tree Lighting rumors abound about a penguin-man in the sewers. Local tycoon Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) is planning on building a new power plant for Gotham, claiming the city is about to run out of power. He has a meeting with the mayor trying to bypass permits and paperwork to get the project started. As she is filling their coffees, his secretary Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) wants to pose a question. The men condescendingly laugh her off as the mayor refuses to support Shreck's plan. They still have a presentation at the tree lighting, posing as friends. During his speech, Shreck is kidnapped by the Red Triangle gang, a bunch of ex-circus folks who have been terrorizing Gotham. Batman is summoned and he fights the gang members but they still get away with Shreck. Batman saves Selina from a clown menacing her with a stun gun. She takes the gun and hits the unconscious clown, revealing a less than healthy mindset.

The circus gang take Shreck to the derelict zoo where The Penguin (Danny Devito) demands Shreck help him return to Gotham society. He wants to live among the humans and find out who his parents are. Penguin has records of Shreck's business misdeeds including the toxic waste from one of his properties, so Shreck has little choice but to accept. Shreck realizes Penguin could help with the mayoral situation.

Selina goes home to her empty apartment (except for her cat and her childish decorations) and has a bit of a pity party for herself, complaining that her cat is having more fun than she is. She checks her messages--her mother wants her to come home for Christmas, a guy dumps her, a robo-call tries to sell her perfume that will make her irresistible. She's also left herself a message reminding her to get a file on Bruce Wayne to prep for a meeting the next morning. She's forgotten and has to go back to the office.

At the office, she collects a lot of files and information about the power plant, including the fact that it will take and store power off the Gotham grid rather than provide power. Shreck comes back from zoo and discovers her and what she knows. He tosses her out a window to keep her from telling anyone else. She falls to the snowy ground. Feral cats swarm over her and she comes back to life with a wild look in her eyes. She returns home, tears up the apartment, creates a costume, and takes on a new identity--Catwoman.

At another speech by the mayor, a member of the circus kidnaps the mayor's infant son. He goes down a manhole where Penguin is waiting. Penguin takes the child back to the mayor, becoming a celebrity in the media. Penguin asks for access to Gotham's city records to find out who his parents are. At the hall of records he writes down a lot of information, more than just his heritage. This is all part of the deal between Shreck and Penguin.

Bruce Wayne, in the Batcave, researches the circus gang, trying to find a connection to Penguin as Penguin visits the grave of his parents. He accepts his human identity as Oswald Cobblepot and forgives his parents. At the same time, a woman is mugged and a masked vigilante saves her. The vigilante is Catwoman who complains about women waiting around to be saved by Batman rather than taking care of themselves.

The next day, Bruce Wayne meets with Shreck. He also sees through the ruse and will not support the power plant plan. Selina show up, surprising Shreck and his son Chip (Andrew Bryniarksi). She escorts Mr. Wayne out and they strike up an uneasy romance. Shreck visits Penguin and convinces him to run for mayor, so he can grease the wheels for the power plant project. He even has an election office set up in spite of Penguin's objection that elections were last month. Shreck has some people try to polish up Penguin's appearance. Penguin bites the nose of one of the aides and gropes one of the female volunteers. Shreck puts everyone back to work while they discuss Penguin's ascension. They plan an attack by Penguin's circus gang to discredit the mayor's tough-on-crime stance.

The attack works, causing chaos in the city and plenty of work for Batman. Catwoman takes advantage to vandalize Shreck's department store. Batman finds Penguin in the area when Catwoman comes out of the department store and it explodes. Penguin flees, leaving Batman and Catwoman to fight, both injuring each other. 

Penguin announces his mayoral run. Back in his lair above the election office, Catwoman shows up and makes an uneasy deal to destroy Batman. They are just as menacing to each other as they are to Batman and Gotham. Catwoman almost swallows Penguin's bird while Penguin threatens her pet cat. They come to an agreement where Penguin plans to discredit Batman.

Bruce Wayne and Selina run into each other on the street and set up a date at Wayne Manor. The date goes well until they discuss problems with duality (which they both have). Things get romantic but they each realize their battle injuries are hard to explain and the stop making out. Also, the TV shows the new tree lighting where Commissioner Gordon is explaining that the Ice Princess, who is supposed to light the light, has been kidnapped, apparently by Batman. Bruce and Selina separately race downtown to deal with the situation.

The mayor tries to make the best of the situation. The circus gang sabotages the Batmobile while Batman find the Princess in an abandoned penthouse. Catwoman shows up, fights Batman, and drags the Princess away. On a rooftop, the Princess is on the edge. Penguin throws an umbrella full of bats at her. She falls off before Batman can save her. Batman is blamed for killing her. Batman and Catwoman have another confrontation winding up under mistletoe and having a cute line. Batman flies off to his car. Catwoman meets the Penguin on another roof where she complains about killing the princess. Penguin hits on her but she has none of it. Frustrated, Penguin get rid of her with a trick umbrella. Then he goes to a trailer where he can remote-control the Batmobile. Batman is trapped in his vehicle as Penguin causes a lot of chaos with the Batmobile. Penguin also taunts Batman and makes fun of Gotham's citizen while he crashes the vehicle into crowds and police. Batman eventually disables the remote control by breaking through the floor and removing the broadcaster. Back in control, he leaves the area.

An even more frustrated Penguin goes to make a speech but Alfred and Batman hack into the sound system and broadcast the insults Penguin made about Gotham while he was controlling the Batmobile. The crowd turns against him, throwing eggs and vegetables and forcing Penguin to flee in despair. He returns to the zoo lair where he plots to kidnap all of Gotham elites' children and kill them while their parents party at Shreck's Max-scerade Ball. One of his goons objects to the plan and Penguin kills him without batting an eye.

Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne both go to the ball (without masks since their true identities are when they wear masks). They dance together. He reveals that he's there for her; she reveals that she's there to kill Shreck. He tries to calm her down as they discover some mistletoe. They repeat the cute line that Batman and Catwoman shared, realizing who they really are. They hold each other closer in a desperate moment. Then Penguin attacks the ball to kidnap Shreck's adult son. Shreck demands he be taken instead of his son. Penguin agrees since he wants revenge on Shreck. 

They go back to the zoo. Penguin's minions are too slow rounding up the others and Batman saves the children. He sends a note to the sewer, so Penguin sends out the actual penguins with missiles on their backs to destroy downtown Gotham. Batman tracks the signal and races through the sewers in a Batboat. He passes the penguins and reaches the lair. Meanwhile, Alfred hacks into the radio controls on the penguins. He manages to turn them around and head them back to the zoo where they will attack. Before they arrive, Penguin's allies abandon him. Penguin tries to flee but Batman arrives. They fight, the penguins show up and start firing on the zoo. Batman beats Penguin who falls into the waters.

Shreck escapes his cage in the lair but Catwoman shows up. Batman tries to stop Catwoman but she can't quit. Shreck has a gun and shoots her several times. She counts down her nine lives as she is hit but he runs out of bullets before she runs out of lives. She pulls out the stun gun and grabs a hanging electrical wire, then kisses Shreck using the stunner as a conduit. He bakes to a crisp as they are buried under rubble. Batman comes to find them but only discovers the charred remains of Shreck. Penguin rises from the waters he has fallen into and tries to use one last umbrella to kill Batman. It is a cute one, so he fails. He drops dead and the penguins take him in a funeral procession to a watery grave.

Alfred takes Bruce Wayne away from the zoo in a limo. Bruce thinks he sees Selina's shadow in an alleyway but she is not there. He picks up a cat, takes it to the car, and drives home. Alfred and Bruce wish each other a merry Christmas with the least conviviality possible. The camera pans up to the rooftops, where the Bat-signal is visible and Catwoman looks up at it. Queue the credits.

So is the sequel better? Let's look at some points of comparison.

• SCRIPT--While both scripts provide interesting stories and characters, the second film is a lot more complicated narratively and thematically. Joker's origin is told in an interesting way while Batman's is relegated to a flashback (though the opening sequence is a bait-and-switch, with the same thing that happened to Bruce happening to an unnamed family). Penguin's origin and story arc is the central narrative of the second film. The uncaring treatment of his parents is paralleled with the uncaring treatment of Selina by her boss and herself. She is not quite aggressive enough as a secretary to rise up the corporate ladder. But the seeds of aggression are in there, seeds that bloom out of control as Catwoman develops. She wants to be a hero but her anger at men (understandable given her treatment) leads her down the wrong path. The damage caused by absent families is seen in the three main characters, with Catwoman starting down the road Batman has trod while Penguin is obsessed with his lost family and unrecognized humanity. Max Shreck, the outwardly most normal villain, has much stronger family connections (he and his son look out for each other). Even so, he's a bad influence on Selina and Penguin, using them for his own ends. The mutual exploitation between Penguin, Catwoman, and Shreck are contrasted with Batman and Alfred's mutual support. The story has some parallels with pre-World War II Germany and the visuals adopt a lot of the German Expressionist aesthetic also from pre-World War II Germany. Max Shreck is even named after the actor who played the Dracula character in Nosferatu. The second script is a lot richer. Advantage Batman Returns. 
• ACTING--Michael Keaton, a controversial choice for the character at the time of the first movie, provides fine performances in each film. Nicholson is great as the Joker, exuding menace and mayhem in every scene. He is over the top but so is the character. The performance fits well. DeVito as the Penguin is almost unrecognizable in his horrifying appearance and behavior. Penguin is very vulgar and unpleasant, even when he tries to be charming. Even so, his character is still somewhat sympathetic, at least to the film makers. His emotional moments are taken very seriously and his death scene plays like a highly tragic ending. Pfeiffer's character is also over the top but she manages to switch back and forth between the mousey Selina and the ferocious Catwoman seamlessly and gets her own level of pathos from the filmmakers. Her sexiness in the role distracts from the fineness of her performance. Advantage Batman Returns.
• ADVANCES THE STORY/MYTHOLOGY--The Batman franchise does not have a larger narrative arc (like Star Wars or Dune or the MCU), it is more a matter of facing different villains and situations as they come. Viewers don't get a deeper understanding of Batman or Gotham or other characters as the movies develop. No advantage.
• SPECIAL EFFECTS--The second film looks like it had a bigger budget. Some of the effects in the first film look dated, or at least more dated than the effects in the second film. Advantage Batman Returns.
• VISUAL STYLE--The gothic vision of Gotham in the first film changes into a German-expressionistic vision in the second. The larger than life statues and sets are reminiscent of Metropolis and other great silent German epics. While both Gothams are squalid, there is an even great oppressiveness to the second film's depiction. Penguin is especially repulsive, often drooling black bile and being sexually aggressive when he has no sex appeal at all. On the other hand, Catwoman oozes sensuality in a way totally inappropriate for a movie ostensibly aimed at kids. There was a lot of protests and complaints, especial from tie-in products like McDonald's Happy Meals. The second film is too gruesome and perverse in some moments, making it a mixed bag. Slight advantage to Batman.

FINAL THOUGHTS

While there are negative and positive things to say about both films, I still would rather rewatch Batman Returns over Batman. Even though sometimes more is less, in this case the second film has so much more going for it. It reminds me of the discussions about Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, where fans think that the first film is truer to Hellboy creator Mike Mignola's vision of the character and the second film is more of director Guillermo del Toro's vision. Batman Returns is much more a Tim Burton take on the characters than Batman is.

Also, Batman Returns was the topic on Unspooled #334, a film commentary podcast that is a lot of fun.

The Sequel Was Better? Batman Begins The Dark Knight

The Sequel Was Better? is a series of reviews looking at famous movies with sequels that are considered, rightly or wrongly, to be better than the original movies. Typically, sequels are a step down in quality, acting, and/or production value. But not always. See other reviews here.

Batman Begins (2005) co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan

Young Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis) plays with his friend Rachel (Emma Lockhart) on the Wayne Manor grounds. He falls into a covered well and the film flips to a bearded, older Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) who is a prisoner in an Asian jail. He beats up a lot of the other inmates and is pulled out of jail by Ducard (Liam Neeson). Ducard says Bruce can find what he's looking for if he takes a blue flower to the top of a nearby mountain. Bruce has been fighting criminals on the streets and has made little progress so he climbs the mountain. He finds Ducard in an ancient fortification that is the headquarters of the League of Shadows. The League trains men to be stealthy, ruthless, and powerful. The League is run by Ra's Al Ghul (Ken Wantanabe). His plan is to rid the world of evil and corruption by sending out the trained soldiers. Bruce and Ducard have some discussions about justice and anger as Ducard teases out the story of Bruce's childhood. 

Young Bruce was injured physically in the drop into the well, but more substantial was the psychological fear of bats he developed. Bruce was saved by his dad, Thomas Wayne (Linus Roache). He's a doctor who has used the Wayne family's wealth to help Gotham, especially during an economic depression when lots of regular people struggled. He invested in a new water system and elevated train lines, providing jobs and civic improvements. Wayne takes his family to an opera that features some bat characters. Young Bruce becomes frightened and asks to leave. The family goes to the alley out back where they are mugged by Joe Chill (Richard Brake), who winds up killing Bruce's parents. Bruce is taken back to Wayne Manor and is raised by Alfred the butler (Michael Caine). Bruce grows older but is still fearful and resentful. In college, he goes to a hearing where Chill may be released from jail since he provided evidence against mob boss Carmine Falcone. Rachel (Katie Holmes), now in the district attorney's office, goes with Bruce. Bruce brings a gun, hoping to avenge his parents. He's beaten to the kill by one of Falcone's associates. Bruce confronts the free Falcone (he's got so many politicians in his pocket that he can't be prosecuted) who treats Bruce with contempt, knowing he can't do anything. Bruce then goes on a crime spree in order to learn more about criminals, the better to fight them. That's what led him to the Asian jail.

Ducard trains Bruce. As he gets better, Ducard reveals the League's next plan--the destruction of the highly corrupt Gotham. Bruce thinks there's still enough good people left to spare the city. Ducard scoffs at Bruce's compassion and explains how it is incompatible with the League's modus operandi. They have brought down other decadent civilizations like ancient Rome and Constantinople. They tried to take down Gotham earlier through economic deprivation but people like Thomas Wayne kept the city together. The League has a new scheme. Bruce objects, fights with Ducard and the League. Ra's dies in the fire that starts during the battle. Bruce saves Ducard from the fire and returns to Gotham.

Gotham still has the same problems--Falcone is running drugs and manipulating the city's government. Wayne Industries's board wants to sell Bruce's shares (he's been gone for seven years and declared legally dead). Bruce is not quite in time to save the business but he does meet with Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) who is in charge of a research department that developed various weapons, armor, and other gadgets for military contracts that never went to fulfillment. Working with Alfred in the caves under Wayne Manor, Bruce fashions himself a Bat suit for his crime fighting nights. He goes out to stop a shipment of drugs. During the battle, he gets evidence to pin Falcone to the crimes and discovers that part of the shipment was going elsewhere.

The other part of the shipment went to a Doctor Crane (Cillian Murphy) who works at Arkham Asylum. Crane has been working with Falcone, getting mid-level mobsters out of jail by declaring them insane and transferring them to Arkham. Crane is developing a toxic gas that terrifies people. Crane wears a Scarecrow mask to get the maximum effect from his patients/victims. When Carmine is arrested and Rachel gets hard evidence from Batman to keep him in jail, Crane has Carmine transferred to Arkham. Carmine tries to bully Crane into releasing him, but Crane is working for a larger organization and uses the toxic gas on Carmine.

Rachel tries to reverse the move of Carmine to Arkham, insisting that the DA's office have an independent assessment of Falcone. Crane uses the gas on Rachel as Batman comes to the asylum. Crane has been using the inmates as slave labor to put the toxin in Gotham's water supply, though since it is airborne, it has had no effect on the citizens. Batman works with police detective Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) to save Rachel. Batman rushes Rachel back to Wayne Manor where Fox has delivered an antidote for the toxin. She gets the cure and Alfred takes her back home.

Meanwhile, it's also Bruce Wayne's birthday party at Wayne Manor. Fox is there and reveals that Wayne Enterprises has lost a high-tech weapon that vaporizes water. Bruce tells Fox to go back and make more antidote. Another party guest is Ducard, who admits he is Ra's Al Ghul and is advancing his timetable. Bruce makes everyone leave the party and then has a big fight with Ra's and his henchmen. They leave Bruce trapped under a beam as the house burns down around him. Alfred returns and helps Master Bruce get out. They flee to the Batcave and Bruce suits up for the final confrontation with Ra's.

Everybody goes to Arkham where Ra's activates the vaporizer. The prisoners are released and subjected to the now-airborne toxin, causing anarchy in the neighborhood. Ra's takes the weapon to the elevated trains. If he can get it to the Wayne building in the center of the city, all the water supply will be vaporized and the city will descend into chaos. Batman fights henchmen and gets onto the train. He fights with Ra's as they argue about the rightness of ending Gotham's corruption through the harsh justice of the League of Shadows. Batman gave Gordon the keys to his Batmobile. Gordon uses it to knock down the train tracks, resulting in the destruction of the machine and the death of Ra's.

By this point, Batman has admitted to Rachel that he's Bruce. She comes to visit him in the wreckage of Wayne Manor. Bruce decides to rebuild (Alfred reminding him that it's a good opportunity to fix up the downstairs). Rachel realizes that her childhood friend is still not back since he has become Batman. Maybe if he can put aside the cowl, they can be together. Bruce reluctantly agrees. Batman returns to Gotham, where Gordon shows him a new Bat-signal and warns him about escalating crime. In fact, a new homicidal maniac is in town and has left a calling card--a joker from a deck of cards. Cue credits.

The movie spends a lot of time on the basic conflict between Bruce and Ducard. Ducard espouses the sort of justice that has no room for error or corruption or mercy. Ducard tells Bruce that his compassion will be his undoing, that he will never be able to fight the "good fight" as the League of Shadows fights it. Bruce is unwilling to give up on all of Gotham just because a lot of corrupt people are controlling things. He still believes things can change. Others like Rachel and Gordon have the same intentions while dealing with the frustrations of working in a corrupt system. While they look desperate, they are not depicted as fools or false optimists. The filmmakers side with Batman on the need for justice tempered by compassion. They also recognizes the enormous level of sacrifice required to live that way. 

The movie also does a good job justifying the various Bat-gadgets that get used in the film. His weapons and armor-like outfit come from the military prototyping unit of Wayne Industries. Sometimes with superhero movies it is hard to shoehorn in the fantastic and unrealistic elements from the comic-book stories. Nolan and company do a good job scaling back the fantastic and beefing up the less-realistic elements.

One of the weaknesses of the film is the nightmare visions people have under the influence of Scarecrow's hallucinogen. The visuals lean more toward the PG end of the PG-13 rating. The bigger weakness is Ducard who is more like a political and moral agenda than an actual human person. Falcone and Crane are a bit better as villainous characters. The escalation up the ladder of criminals (from Falcone to Crane to the League of Shadows) is interesting and a natural way to keep raising the stakes.

The Dark Knight (2008) co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan

A small clown-masked gang robs a bank in a highly-organized and efficient way. The heist is unusual in that as each robber finishes his specialized task (like disabling alarms or cracking the safe), another robber kills him (fewer guys to share the profits with). The final robber is revealed to be The Joker (Heath Ledger), a psychotic villain who has just begun a crime spree. The other unusual thing about the heist is that the bank is run by one of Gotham's mobs, so The Joker has stolen money that the owners really want back. 

The mobs have other problems to deal with. During a drug deal in a multi-level parking garage with The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), several locals dressed up as Batman show up with guns to stop the deal. The gun fight is broken up by the actual Batman (Christian Bale), who sustains some injuries thanks to the vicious dogs brought by the Russian mafia. Back at Wayne Manor, Alfred (Michael Caine) patches up Bruce Wayne. Bruce is interested int the new district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who is fighting crime in the courts and dating Bruce's old girlfriend Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhall, replacing Katie Holmes). Bruce runs into the couple at a fancy restaurant, is impressed with Dent, and wants to throw a fundraiser for him. And he considers Dent as a possible replacement for Batman, who functions as Gotham's figurehead of justice.

Wayne's company is making a deal with a Chinese firm headed by Lau (Chin Han), who is secretly working with the mob families to take care of their money. Negotiations with Lau are inconclusive. Lau also has a meeting with the crime bosses (via television) to figure out what to do about Batman, who has been disrupting crime all over Gotham. The Joker shows up at the meeting and promise to kill Batman if they will pay him half the money. The men balk at this, though Joker warns them that with Batman's lack of legal restraints, he's bound to take down more of the mafia and probably Lau. Lau is bound to give them up if he ever gets caught. Lau bails out of the meeting and the mobsters are still unsure, forcing Joker to head out while threatening to blow up everyone.

The cops want to take down the mob and have been using marked money given them by Batman to find out which banks are run by the criminals. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) works with Dent to get legal cover for raiding the banks. Gordon and Dent are a little leery of each other. Dent rose through the ranks in Internal Affairs, so he knows how many corrupt cops are on the payroll, even in Gordon's unit. They come to an arrangement. As Gordon's people raid the banks, the money is gone (Lau is taking it with him back to Hong Kong). Gordon thinks there's a leak in Dent's office, Dent thinks the leak is in Gordon's unit. They meet on the roof of the Major Crimes Unit (MCU!) with Batman, who volunteers to go after Lau since Batman doesn't have to deal with international extradition or other legal restraints.

Bruce Wayne meets with Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) who, while running Wayne Industries, still has a hand in developing Batman tech and solving tricky problems. Wayne wants to snatch Lau from his Hong Kong skyscraper and return home via an aerial pick-up. Fox works the problem. Alfred comes up with an excuse to get Wayne to China's waters--they take the Russian ballet (or at least the female dancers from the ballet) on a yacht. Wayne swims to shore while Alfred takes care of the prima donnas onboard. The spectacular kidnapping sequence goes off without a hitch, so Batman delivers Lau to Gordon for holding. Lau is willing to give up the mobsters to save himself. Wayne shows up at the Wayne/Dent fundraiser and claims he believes in Harvey Dent--he says this because he is sure Dent can replace Batman as Gotham's hero.

The Joker has been busy too. He takes out one of the gang leaders, not before explaining how he got his scars--his dad did it to him as a child in a sadistically described scene. He drops off one of the fake Batmen at MCU demanding the real Batman reveal himself. The Joker show up at the Wayne/Dent fundraiser, giving Rachel a different and equally horrible story of how he got his scars. Wayne sneaks off to become Batman. His fight with the Joker is inconclusive--Batman has to save Rachel from falling from the top of the skyscraper and the Joker escapes. At the same time, Joker's henchmen kill a prominent judge and the police commissioner at different locations. 

The Joker's next target is the Mayor. Batman has some physical evidence giving him a lead on the Joker's whereabouts which turns out to be a deception. The Joker's men are somewhere else and would have killed the Mayor if Gordon hadn't jumped in front of the bullet. Gordon's widow accuses Batman of causing his death. Both Batman and Dent put the screws to Joker's associates but get no information. Batman convinces Dent to hold a press conference where he will reveal his true identity. Dent, in front of the press, claims he is Batman. Dent is taken into custody. They take him to MCU, assuming that the real Batman will have a chance to take out the Joker, who surely will try to kill Dent. The Joker does attack, ending with the arrest of Joker by Gordon, who pretended to die. While the Joker is in jail, Dent and Rachel are kidnapped and put into deathtraps. Batman tries to beat information out of the Joker. The Joker tells where they are and Batman goes after Rachel while the cops go after Dent. When Batman shows up, Dent is in the location, not Rachel. He is barely able to save Dent, whose face becomes horribly burned. Rachel dies in flames. And the Joker escapes from MCU through an elaborate scheme. He takes Lau with him.

Alfred reads a letter from Rachel to Bruce detailing that she will marry Harvey because she thinks Bruce will never not be Batman. He destroys the letter. Meanwhile, a Wayne Industries mid-level accountant threatens to reveal the true identity of Batman. While the accountant is on TV, the Joker changes his mind and doesn't want Batman's identity revealed. He calls in to the TV show, offer lots of money for someone to kill the accountant. If no one does the deed, Joker will blow up all the hospitals in Gotham.

Harvey is recovering at Gotham General. Joker goes there and goads Harvey, who has gone insane and embraced his new Two-Faced nature, into being a villain. Harvey lets fate control his decisions, flipping a coin to decide if someone will live or die. The Joker offers himself as the first target but the coin is okay. Joker leaves the hospital, blowing it up. Gordon panics about Dent's missing status. Dent goes on a killing spree, shooting cops and mafia involved in the murder of Rachel (that is, his target were manipulated by the Joker).

The Joker threatens the city, implying that people should flee but the bridges and tunnels are dangerous. People take to the ferries. Two ferries are stuck out in the water with the Joker telling the ferry riders that the boats are rigged to explode. Each ferry has a detonator for the other ferry. Joker wants one boat to destroy the other. If one of them doesn't do it by midnight, he will blow up both boats. One boat has the criminals that Dent put in jail; the other has regular citizens. 

Batman has used Wayne Industries tech to access all the cell phones in Gotham to "see" everywhere, using the microphones for echo-location. His hope is the Joker will get picked up by one of the microphones and they can find him. He lets Lucius Fox control the system. Fox demurs, saying it is completely unethical but they will use it this one time. Joker makes his announcement about the boat by a phone, so they locate him, pretty much at the same time as Gotham's police. Batman asks for time to get the Joker before they move in but GCPD is not interested since there are a lot of hostages in the building. Batman fights the Joker's henchman and the cops to keep everyone safe. He eventually subdues Joker, who makes a big speech about who they are and how the people of the city will lose their trust in good when they find out about Harvey Dent's fall into corruption. Lucius Fox, when he is done with the machine, types his name in like Bruce asked him. That causes the machine to self-destruct, restoring Fox's faith in Bruce.

Gordon has raced off to save his family who were tricked by Dent into going to the place where Rachel died. Gordon and Dent have a hard conversation about loss of loved ones. Dent wants to kill one of Gordon's family, choosing his son when Gordon reacts the most to that threat. Batman arrives and Dent claims that the only justice is random chance. In an opportune moment, Batman takes out Dent. He and Gordon discuss the problem of Dent's corruption. Gordon assumes the city will lose its hope. Batman says he will take the blame for Dent's murders so the city can keep its hope and the Joker will not win. He runs away as Gordon tells the police that Batman is guilty. Gordon explains to his son, who doesn't understand, that Batman can take on this burden to keep Gotham's hope alive. He's the hero they deserve but not the one they need right now. Batman will defend the city from crime as its Dark Knight. Cue credits.

This movie was an even bigger sensation than the first one. Ledger's performance as the Joker was highly praised (including winning an Oscar) because it is so edgy and fascinating. His schemes are deadly and sadistic, designed to force people into bad decisions. His philosophical rantings are all over the place, packed with lies and misdirection, making him hard to understand. Does he really believe in chaos when he is so methodical and far ahead of other people? Ledger's performance is so overwhelming that it's hard to notice the holes in the Joker's character the first time watching the film. It holds the film together.

Eckhart is okay as Dent. His storyline, even though its summation seems like the point of the film, gets second seat to the Joker's antics and feels tacked on at the end. He's a lot easier to understand as a person, though he is similarly manipulative in his dealings with others, especially using a two-headed coin to trick people into thinking there's an element of chance to what will happen. Gordon is initially wary of Dent but somehow becomes a big proponent of propping up Dent's mythical (and undeserved) reputation as a hero of Gotham. While Gordon, Rachel, Batman, and Bruce Wayne are all big fans of Dent, the movie does not establish that the general public in Gotham idolizes Dent. He does some heroic things, but no one is dressing up like him to fight crime or becoming lawyers or chanting his name in the street or praising him at the press conference. I am still waiting for a great Two-Face cinematic story that delves into his character and his pathology, like they did for the Joker in this film.

The film is very enjoyable and an overwhelming experience the first time watching it. It is chock full of interesting ideas and amazing set pieces. Repeated viewings have diminished its lustre for me but it is still an excellent film.

So is the sequel better? Let's look at some points of comparison.

• SCRIPT--Both movies have very strong scripts, balancing character development and exposition with action and peril. They also deal with bigger issues than the typical comic book plot of bad-guy-wants-to-destroy-the-world-and-must-be-defeated. I found "justice needs to be sought with compassion" a more interesting theme and better presented than the "Gotham needs a proper hero" theme of the second film. Advantage Batman Begins
• ACTING--Heath Ledger rightly won an Oscar for his performance as the Joker, making him stand out over all the other villains in the Christopher Nolan Batman series. The characters consistent between both films (Batman, Alfred, Gordon, Lucius Fox, and some minor figures) are all on the same par as the first film. Katie Holmes is replaced as Rachel by Maggie Gyllenhall in the sequel. Gyllenhall does a better job, though the character has more substance than in the original. Advantage The Dark Knight
• ADVANCES THE STORY/MYTHOLOGY--After establishing Bruce Wayne/Batman as a somewhat tragic hero who can't have a normal life, the second film sees him hoping for a way out, relying on Harvey Dent to take up the mantel of Gotham's hero. It seems like a possible outcome (with the ironic addition that Dent successfully courts Wayne's childhood girlfriend). The sequel ends with Batman falling behind, losing the girl and taking on the reputation of a villain in the hopes of bolstering Gotham's belief in goodness. He's also lost his alliance with the cops. I know a lot of people who love the ending, especially with its Christological overtones, but I found it a bit unsatisfying. I think the Joker did win by destroying Gordon's and Batman's faith in the people of Gotham and by making Batman destroy his own heroic reputation. The Dark Knight is more like the second act of a story--it puts the hero in an even worse state before he comes back in the third act (which does happen in the third film).
• SPECIAL EFFECTS--The movies are very similar with some massive action sequences (the train battle and the Hong Kong kidnapping). The "echo location" effect in The Dark Knight is interesting though the fight sequence looks like it was taken from a high-end video game. The Scarecrow nightmares in the first film are a little underwhelming too. Tie
• VISUAL STYLE--The style remains consistent between the two films, with a dark and downtrodden Gotham struggling under crime and corruption. The Bat-gadgets are more low-key than in other Batman films and shows, fitting the mostly realistic style of these films. There's no huge advances in the second film. Tie
• THE BIG FINALE--Both movies have big physical confrontations that also accommodate philosophical and moral points being made by the characters. The action is a bit better in the second film but gets a bit dragged out having a final confrontation with the Joker and then another, much lesser final confrontation with Two-Face twenty minutes later. Tie

FINAL THOUGHTS

Both films are excellent and are the best of the Batman films so far. While The Dark Knight is widely regarded as the better film, I find Batman Begins more resonant with me. It's theme of tempering justice with compassion is both more important and better executed than The Dark Knight's main theme. So this is a rare instance for me where the sequel is not better.

The Sequel Was Better? X-Men vs. X2

The Sequel Was Better? is a series of reviews looking at famous movies with sequels that are considered, rightly or wrongly, to be better than the original movies. Typically, sequels are a step down in quality, acting, and/or production value. But not always. See other reviews here.

X-Men (2000) co-written and directed by Bryan Singer

The movie opens at a German concentration camp where a young boy is separated from his parents. The boy resists, showing power over metal when he almost pulls down a gate separating him from his family without touching the gate. The story then jumps to somewhere "in the near future." A teenage girl named Rouge (Anna Paquin) is hanging out with her boyfriend planning a trip to Alaska. They wind up kissing which hurts him. Her mutant power is to absorb other people's life force temporarily when she touches them, leaving them weakened, sometime in a coma. She panics and flees. In Washington, D.C., Dr. Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) testifies at a congressional hearing on a mutant registration act. She is argued down by Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison) who wants mutants registered as lethal weapons. In the gallery, Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) watches thoughtfully. He spots his old friend Eric Lensherr/Magneto (Ian McKellen), who was the boy in the opening scene. They talk about the situation of mutants. Magneto will do whatever it takes to keep mutants free and says they are the future of humanity, not regular humans. 

Rogue has hitchhiked as far as Canada on her own. She is in a small town where the local bar features cage fights between tough mountain men. One man is unbeatable--Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). He drinks and smokes and takes no guff from anyone. One of the defeated man tries to make trouble afterward, forcing a confrontation where Wolverine shows his claws. No real violence happens and he leaves in his camper truck. Rogue hides inside the truck. She's discovered by Wolverine and they have an awkward conversation in the cab. That's interrupted when they are attacked by Sabretooth (Tyler Mane) and Toad (Ray Park). The attackers work for Magneto and want to kidnap the mutant. Cyclops (James Marsden) and Storm (Halle Berry), who work for Xavier, come to the rescue. They bring Rogue and Wolverine back to the Professor's school in Westchester, New York.

Wolverine is brought in unconscious. When he wakes up, he roughs up Dr. Grey (who is treating him) and wanders through the school, which is more like a mansion. He meets Xavier who tells him about his efforts to help mutants like Wolverine. He shelters mutants at the school and prepares them to live in the world. A few of the students, like Cyclops and Storm, stay at the school to teach and to go on assignments like the Canadian rescue mission. Wolverine is more of a loner and not so interested in joining up. Xavier offers to help Wolverine investigate his past since Wolverine can't remember anything before getting adamantium (a mostly unbreakable metal) attached to his skeleton and claws. Wolverine sticks around. He has a nightmare; Rogue comes to wake him up and he accidentally stabs her. She absorbs his healing power to heal herself. The next day, she's convinced to flee the school by a fellow student who is actually one of Magneto's operatives.

The operative is a shapeshifter called Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos). She went on an earlier mission to kidnap Senator Kelly. Taken back to Magneto's island lair, Kelly is subjected to a machine that causes him to mutate. The machine requires Magneto's power but nearly kills him. Magneto thinks it is worth the risk because he hopes that Kelly will change his tune once he's also a mutant. Kelly manages to escape and return to the mainland, where he flees to the school. He hopes they can help him because he's afraid of the regular hospitals. They try to treat him but the mutation is too severe and he dies.

The X-Men discover Rogue's absence and Xavier uses a special mutant-finding machine called Cerebro to find her location. She's at a local train station. Wolverine immediately goes after her; Cyclops and Storm are not far behind. A big battle at the train station results in Rogue being kidnapped by Magneto, who plans to use her to power his machine by forcing her to take his power temporarily. A large gathering of world leaders on Ellis Island will happen the next night. Magneto plans to turn them all into mutants, making them sympathetic to his cause. Magneto's crew brings the machine to the Statue of Liberty, using that to broadcast the radiation to Ellis Island. 

The X-Men figure out the plan and mount an attack on Liberty Island, hoping to rescue Rogue and capture the bad guys. Magneto's lackeys battle the X-Men for a while, then Magneto steps in and traps them. He then starts the machine with Rogue inside. Wolverine breaks free, frees the other X-Men, and rescues Rogue just in time. A careful blast from Cyclops disables Magneto and the machine. Rogue is almost dead, so Wolverine touches her to give her his healing power. 

Back at the school, Xavier give Wolverine some new leads on his past, specifically the location of an abandoned military base in Canada. Xavier goes to visit Magneto in his plastic jail where they have another sparing match over what should be done to improve mutantkind's situation. 

X2: X-Men United (2003) co-written and directed by Bryan Singer

Set shortly after the first film, this movie opens with an assassination attempt on the President of the United States by Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming). He looks like a blue devil, teleports, and is an acrobat, so the infiltration and fight with Secret Service is exciting and tense. Nightcrawler fails at the last minute. Anti-mutant sentiment goes high. The president meets with military scientist William Stryker (Brian Cox) and Senator Kelly who is Mystique masquerading as the senator. The president encourages Stryker to go ahead with an operation against Xavier's school. Kelly/Mystique asks about Magneto's prison, which Stryker designed. Stryker tells the senator to leave the war (between mutants and humans) to him. Stryker visits Magneto to get more information out of him by drugging him. 

Mystique infiltrates Stryker's offices and gets information on the prison and on Stryker's secret base where he plans to set up another Cerebro. She idenitifies one of the guards and surreptitiously injects him with more iron, so that Magneto will have some metal with which to escape.

Meanwhile, Wolverine has gone to the Canadian base and found nothing. He returns to the school just in time to babysit the students. Xavier and Cyclops will meet with Magneto to find out if he was behind the assassination attempt; Storm and Jean Grey will go after the assassin. Xavier and Cyclops are kidnapped by Stryker after the interview; Storm and Jean find Nightcrawler and convince him to come with them. The school is attacked by Stryker's forces They kidnap a few of the children and steal some key components of Cerebro. Most of the mutants escape, with Wolverine, Iceman, Rogue, and Pyro fleeing to Boston to catch up with Storm and Jean. Iceman's family lives there, though they think he's at a prep school. His family knows nothing of his mutant abilities. The visit is awkward and goes bad when Iceman's brother calls the cops. Pyro lets loose, confirming the bad feelings about mutants. Storm and Jean show up in the jet and get all the mutants out of there.

The jet is pursued by military planes and eventually shot down. They almost crash but luckily are right near Magneto (who did escape from the plastic prison) who uses his power to catch the plane. They form an alliance to go back to the Canadian base because Wolverine missed the underground lair of Stryker. Stryker gave Wolverine his adamantium during his earlier experiments on mutants. Stryker's mutant son went to Xavier's school many years ago. Stryker had hoped for a cure but Xavier doesn't do that. When the son came home, he drove his mom crazy by causing hallucinations. She committed suicide; Stryker never forgave his son and that's why he thinks all mutants are dangerous. Now, he will use his son to trick Xavier into using Cerebro 2 to kill all the mutants on earth (the drug he used to force Nightcrawler to attack the president and to get information out of Magneto doesn't work on Xavier). 

The allies make it to the Canadian base and mount an attack to save Xavier and stop Stryker. Wolverine has lots of flashbacks to the horrible surgery that caused his amnesia (maybe?) and gave him the unbreakable bones. He fights Lady Deathstrike who has similar regeneration powers and unbreakable claws (and is under Styker's mind control). The other mutants fight mostly soldiers, though Cyclops fights on Stryker's side until the mind control drug wears off. Stryker flees the base when Magneto infiltrates Cerebro 2. Magneto convinces the son to switch plans and have Xavier kill all the regular humans instead of the mutants. He pursues Stryker, chaining him up and stealing his helicopter (Pyro joins him because he's been steadily turning bad). Storm and Nightcrawler free Xavier just before he kills all the humans. 

The base is badly damaged and the dam under which it is built breaks. The mutants flee to their jet. Jean Grey uses her power to stop the flood waters from hitting the jet but is killed while saving her friends. The X-Men visit the president to reassure him that they are not a threat and return to the school.

So is the sequel better? Let's look at some points of comparison.

• SCRIPT--The first movie's script is an amalgamation of a lot of the intro stories of various characters. The story is enjoyable and sets up some of the classic issues from the comics--what is it to be human, how to deal with the new powers you get growing up, can people live together peaceably in spite of their differences, are the differences really significant enough to make some people better than others. The second movie takes on these issues but spends less time with character intros and more time dealing with them in multifaceted ways. The story is based on Chris Claremont's God Loves, Man Kills graphic novel, though they make a lot of improvements and adjustments for a cinematic experience. X2 definitely has the stronger script.
• ACTING--The cast is mostly the same, with some new characters added in the sequel. Most of the actors give top-notch performances, especially Stewart, McKellen, and Jackman. I'm sure it was fun too for the actors to have turns playing Mystique as she morphed into in the sequel. This is a tie. 
• ADVANCES THE STORY/MYTHOLOGY--The second movie expands on the themes of the first. The conflict between Xavier and Magneto, who had been friends, plays out in the action and in the ideas. The addition of Styker fills out the moral spectrum of the story. Stryker is pro-human and anti-mutant; Xavier is pro-human and pro-mutant; Magneto is anti-human and pro-mutant. The other characters provide the shades of grey between those points. Advantage X2.
• SPECIAL EFFECTS--The special effects in both films hold up fairly well twenty years later, though the occasional flying body looks wrong in the first film. The second film has more elaborate characters like Nightcrawler and Lady Deathstrike. The Cerebro effects are a little bit better in the second film. Minor advantage X2.
• VISUAL STYLE--Both movies have the same director and his style is consistent. The opening sequence in X2 is still amazing to see and rivals the Quicksilver slow-motion scenes in the much later films, the X2 this scene is played for drama and the Quicksilver stuff has a humorous tone. This also is a tie.
• THE BIG FINALE--Both movies have big battles at the end which have both physical and moral stakes for the characters and the world at large. There's a bigger price paid in the second film, but the last scene has a Jean Grey voiceover as the camera pans over the flood water and the shape of a bird can be seen on the water. For comic book readers, that's a pretty big hint that she will be back as Phoenix and/or Dark Phoenix, which she did come back as in X3. Slight advantage to X2.

FINAL THOUGHTS

After two great movies (with the second being slightly better), the X-Men franchise became very hit-and-miss. Logan and Deadpool are the outstanding later films, the rest are in the mediocre-to-bad range. Maybe with the franchise coming into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they will mutate into a higher entertainment form?

The Sequel Was Better? Dr. No vs. From Russia With Love

The Sequel Was Better? is a series of reviews looking at famous movies with sequels that are considered, rightly or wrongly, to be better than the original movies. Typically, sequels are a step down in quality, acting, and/or production value. But not always. See other reviews here.

James Bond remains one of the most popular characters in cinema history. He started out in novels written by Ian Fleming. He made the jump to the sliver screen in 1962 with Sean Connery as the first actor to play Bond. He was considered the iconic Bond until the current Bond, Daniel Craig, has made such a good showing. Fans will debate endlessly about who is their favorite Bond or Bond villain or Bond girl, but I think all would agree that the second film was better than the first. At least, that's what I am arguing here...

Dr. No directed by Terrence Young

After the now-iconic gun barrel opening and flashy/arty credits, three blind Jamaicans wander through Kingston. They arrive at a local club where they kill Professor Strangways (Tim Moxon), a British businessman with some strange habits. He was on his way back to his office to contact his supervisor. The three blind men hustle the body into a hearse. The action moves to Strangways's office, where his secretary turns on a secret radio and calls to the supervisor which happens to be a British intelligence agency in London. After setting up the call, the office is invaded by gunmen who kill the secretary and take two files. One file is marked "Dr. No," the other "Crab Key." Back in England, concern for the fate of their Jamaican branch has M (Bernard Lee) call in one of his agents to deal with the situation. The scene switches to a club where a high-class card game is being won over and over by Bond, James Bond (Sean Connery). The message forces Bond to leave, but not before setting up a date for the next day with an alluring woman at the table. Bond reports to M's office after a bit of flirting with M's secretary, Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell). M fills Bond in--Strangways was a British agent investigating some radio disturbances from the Caribbean that were disrupting American rocket launches in Florida. Bond is sent to investigate Strangways's disappearance after being given a better gun (the iconic Walther PPK) by the agency's armorer (who isn't named Q yet and is played by a different actor than Desmond Llewelyn). Bond goes home to pack and discovers the woman from the club with whom he has a romantic moment before he heads out for Jamaica.

In the Jamaican airport, Bond is met by a driver. He goes back into the building to make a call and is observed by a mysterious stranger (Jack Lord), who we later discover is C.I.A. agent Felix Leiter. Bond calls the local office and finds out they haven't sent a car for him. He tells the office he'll come in later. He gets in the car with the wrong driver and they are chased by the mysterious stranger. The driver is able to escape thanks to some direction from Bond. As they hide on a side road, Bond pulls a gun on the driver and tries to get him to talk. The driver asks if he can smoke. Bond agrees but then the driver bites a cyanide pill out of the cigarette and dies rather than talk about his employer. Bond checks in to his hotel and reports to the local office.

At the local office, Bond arranges to meet the men who last saw Strangways alive and to investigate Strangways's business office. He finds a receipt for the analysis for some rocks. Bond meets Professor Dent (Anthony Dawson) who analyzed the rocks and he claims they were worthless samples but he does act nervous about it. Bond discovers a local boatman named Quarrel (John Kitzmiller) who worked with Strangways and took him once to Crab Key, the island base for Doctor No. Bond gets a Geiger counter from the agency. Using it on Quarrel's boat, he discovers radiation. So the rocks from Crab Key were radioactive, which means the professor was lying.

Meanwhile, the panicked professor has gone to Crab Key to warn Doctor No. The doctor is disappointed in Dent coming outside of protocol and gives Dent a deadly spider with which to eliminate Bond. Dent takes the spider to Bond's hotel room late at night. The spider crawls up Bond's arm but he manages to get it off and squash it. Bond decides to go to Crab Key. Leiter demurs, promising to bring the cavalry if Bond doesn't come back in twelve hours. Quarrel is reluctant to go but is persuaded. Another rocket launch is scheduled for the next day, so time is critical.

Bond and Quarrel sneak onto the island where they meet Honey Rider (Ursula Andress), who walks up from the beach in a bikini, another iconic Bond movie moment. She's on the island to collect sea shells that she sells on the American market. Usually, the local inhabitants threaten people who come to the island, but she knows how to hide from them, including hiding from their "dragon." Quarrel confirms the existence of a dragon but Bond is dismissive. A gunboat comes and the three visitors manage to hide further back on the beach. The people on the boat demand that the visitors show themselves. Soon enough, they open fire but don't hit anything other than Honey's boat. She's stranded with Bond and Quarrel, who make plans to stay. Eventually, the "dragon" comes out--it's an armored vehicle with a flamethrower. Quarrel is killed. Bond and Honey are captured.

After being decontaminated, Bond and Honey are treated well--soft clothes and a meal and a room to relax in. They drink some coffee and are knocked out by drugs in the coffee. When they wake up, they are taken to dinner with Doctor No. The doctor is an agent of SPECTRE, the SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion. They are trying to disrupt the American space plan and he uses the Crab Key base to topple the rockets. No gives his background--he is the son of a German soldier and a Chinese mother. In China, he was rejected by the locals even though he was a brilliant scientist. In America, he got the same treatment. So he joined SPECTRE. He lost his hands at one point, leaving him with metallic hands that can crush everyday objects. He tries to recruit Bond, who adamantly refuses. No then has Honey taken away and Bond beaten up.

Bond is left in a prison cell. He escapes through the air ducts and disguises himself in a radiation suit. He sneaks into the reactor room where he overloads the nuclear reactor before the bad guys have the chance to disrupt the rocket launch. Dr. No and Bond fight, with Bond eventually forcing No into the reactor pool where No dies. Bond escapes, finds Honey, and they flee the island in a boat. The facility blows up. The boat runs out of fuel, so Bond and Honey have time to "get friendly." Leiter shows up in a Royal Navy boat and they tow Bond's craft to Jamaica. As they are being towed, Bond and Honey start making out again. Bond unties the rope, leaving them plenty of time to drift off to happiness as the end credits roll.

From Russia With Love directed by Terrence Young

In the first ever pre-credits sequence, Bond is infiltrating an estate. A strange blonde man (Robert Shaw) is stalking him. The blonde gets the drop on Bond and kills him! Then the lights come on and viewers discover the place is a training base for SPECTRE. The blonde is named Grant, a star assassin and spy. Someone comes up and pulls the mask off Bond to reveal he's someone else. Then the credits start--it's still the Bond orchestral music with the credits being shown on the body of a belly dancer (who shakes just about everything). The theme song is saved for the end of the movie.

After the credits we see SPECTRE agents plotting in Venice. Russian intelligence officer Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya) has gone over to SPECTRE though no one knows about it. Blofeld (unidentified) authorizes a scheme where Klebb will go to the Soviet office in Istanbul. A junior officer named Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) will pretend to defect from the Istanbul office, bringing with her a Lektor decoding machine. Her price is that James Bond will be her escort to the West. When M (Bernard Lee) gets wind of the offer, he clearly sees it as a trap. But the British can't pass up the chance to get a Lektor. During the briefing, a member of Q branch (Desmond Llewelyn!) brings Bond a special attache case that is loaded with weapons and cash. After a dalliance with his girlfriend and some flirting with Moneypenny, Bond is off to Istanbul.

Bond is met at the airport by a car from Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendariz). The car is followed by the Russians. The Cold War is pretty casual in Turkey--both sides let the other keep tabs. Bey is ready to assist Bond with the plan, getting blueprints of the Russian consulate and organizing the meet between Bond and the Russian girl. She's recruited by Klebb for the scheme and is happy to serve the Motherland. She goes to Bond's hotel where they have a romantic evening which is surreptitiously filmed by SPECTRE. Bond and Tatiana plan to meet at a mosque the next day so she can give Bond a map of the Russian consulate.

Before the mosque meeting, Bey is almost killed by a bomb at the British office. Bond goes to the meeting where a Russian agent almost interferes with Tatiana's dropoff. The blonde guy Grant is there and kills the Russian agent, assuring that Bond will get the information he needs. Bond returns to Bey's place to find the near assassination. Bey decides Bond needs to go somewhere other than his hotel so he takes Bond to a Gypsy camp for the night. The Gypsy hosts are very nice and the belly dancer from the opening credits shows up as entertainment. The other entertainment is two women fighting each other over one of the Gypsy chieftain's sons. This catfight is interrupted when the Russians show up and try to kill Bey. Bond helps the Gypsies fight the Russians and is saved at a critical moment by Grant, who is hiding in the wings, making sure the plan stays on track. After the Russians are driven away, Bond asks the grateful Gypsy chieftain to stop the cat fight. The chieftain lets Bond settle the dispute, ensuring he has company for the night.

The next day, Bond and Bey make plans to take out one of the Russians in a humorous revenge scene. Once that's done, they start the plan to extract Tatiana and the Lektor from the consulate. Bey uses an underground reservoir to blow up part of the consulate. Bond sneaks in and gets the girl and the gizmo. They escape through the hole in the floor created by the explosion.

Soon enough they are on a train to the West with a plan for one of Bey's sons to meet them near Trieste. They discover a Russian on the train and get the drop on him. Bey holds the Russian hostage while Bond hangs out with Tatiana, who pretends to be his bride (and really gets into the act). Grant is on the train as well. He kills Bey and the Russian. Then he impersonates the Trieste contact, fooling Bond into thinking he's a British agent. In the dining car, Grant drugs Tatiana's drink. Back at their room, Tatiana passes out. Grant and Bond go into the other half of the compartment where Grant gets the drop on Bond. He tells Bond the whole scheme. Bond tries to bribe Grant, who asks where the money is. Bond says its in his attache case. The case is actually booby-trapped, giving Bond the chance to fight Grant. After a long struggle, Bond succeeds.

Bond then takes Tatiana and uses Grant's escape plan to get back to Venice. He takes Grant's truck and drives to the shore. Along the way he has a fight with a helicopter and (naturally) wins. At the shore, Bond and Tatiana take a boat to Venice. There's a fight with other boats which ends in a spectacular explosion. In Venice, SPECTRE makes a last ditch effort to get the Lektor back by sending Klebb in as a maid to steal it from Bond's hotel room. She winds up fighting with Bond. Tatiana has to choose her loyalty at this point and she chooses Bond, helping him to defeat Klebb. Bond and Tatiana escape in another boat, leaving Venice for England as the title song plays over the end credits.

So is the sequel better? Let's look at some points of comparison.

• SCRIPT--Both movies stick fairly closely to the novels on which they were based. Dr. No was chosen as the first film because of the limited number of locations (thus saving on the budget). I think it was a less interesting story. From Russia With Love has a more going on. The fake-out opening where Bond is killed establishes the deceptions and surprise twists throughout the film. The movie also has a lot of opposed pairs--Bond and Grant, British and Soviets, Bulgarians and Turks, the two Blofeld underlings, Tatiana and Klebb. Also, From Russia With Love is the most normal of the Bond films. It's a Cold War spy film with minimal gadgets and villains who are not over-the-top. The action is realistic and believable (except for Bond shooting the helicopter with his rifle and destroying it, but hey, at least it wasn't a bow and arrow). Advantage From Russia With Love.
• ACTING--Connery is equally good in both films. Bond girls aren't famous for their acting abilities though to be fair they aren't usually given much to work with. Andress in Dr. No has a lot more agency and more character. Bianchi isn't much more than the lure to draw Bond in. She gets some agency at the end but overall is a lesser character. On the other hand, the villains in From Russia With Love are more interesting than Doctor No since they have more than one single plan to execute. Grant and Klebb are fun baddies. Kerim Bey is a more colorful sidekick than Felix Leiter. Advantage From Russia With Love.
• ADVANCES THE STORY/MYTHOLOGY-- Dr. No has a lot of the Bond tropes already in it: the iconic gunbarrel-view opening; the iconic score; the artsy opening credits (though it's all abstract images); Bond beds several women; the villain has a cavernous secret base; SPECTRE is introduced; his American counterpart, Felix Leiter, starts his long career. From Russia With Love adds in the pre-credits sequence which, unlike in later Bond films, actually has to do with the main plot. The movie also establishes the scantily-clad female dancing during the opening credits. Viewers see a little more of SPECTRE's organization. The Cold War is more specifically brought into the plot which became a mainstay for the first twenty years of Bond films. Advantage From Russia With Love.
• SPECIAL EFFECTS--Both movies are before the Bond franchise started going over the top with villain plans and secret agent gadgets. The stunt work and explosions make for a convincing and enjoyable action film in both cases. Advantage neither.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Dr. No is a fine film and well worth watching. It's just From Russia With Love successfully ups the ante in so many ways. SPECTRE's scheme is more interesting and credible. The larger budget meant Venice and Turkey had a lot more going on than the limited Caribbean island locations. The girl was less interesting but the villains and the allies were more interesting. It's easy to choose which film to watch between the two.

The third film, Goldfinger, established the "Bond formula" for the format and tone of the films that remained more or less unbroken until the 2006 Casino Royale. But that's a story for another review.