Seven movies I enjoyed watching and why I think they deserve a sequel

Have you ever enjoyed a movie so much and expected more of it, only to discover the story ended there?

It’s like having a craving for your favourite brown sugar milk tea from Koi, only to find the nearest outlet is closed for the day after heading there.

While you can still get your bubble tea the next day, these movies and its characters may never have another chance for its stories to continue.

More than just breaking box office records or producing a movie adaptation that’s a carbon copy of the book, movies are about enjoying the cinematography and its talented cast who bring the characters to life.

And here are seven movies that I feel deserved a sequel and if you have not watched these movies before, spoiler alert!

I Am Number Four is a movie adaptation of a seven-part novel series titled Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore.

The plot follows John Smith, aka Number Four, a teenager with astonishing powers who has to stay hidden with his guardian. He and eight other teenagers, collectively called the Garde, fled their home planet Lorien to escape from the Mogadorians. The Mogadorians want to kill the Garde, but can only do so in numerical order.

The movie begins with Number Three’s death, and John is alerted that he is next. He then moves to Paradise, Ohio to start anew as his newfound powers begin manifesting.

At the end of the movie, John sets off with Number Six, who found and saved him earlier, and his friend Sam in search of the remaining four Gardes.

I was always curious about what happened after they found the others, and if John eventually reunited with his love interest Sarah or simply moved on.

Did they find the other four Gardes, and what happened then? Did they go home to their home planet and start anew or did they stay on Earth? And did more Mogadorians come searching for them? Or how did they get on with life even?

There were so many questions left unanswered and even though I could have simply read the books (which I haven’t), I prefer to watch it on screen.

Here’s another book-turned-movie adaptation filled with action, romance and comedy but, unfortunately, didn’t quite meet people’s expectations, scoring just 16 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. But I enjoyed it for its story and I love the post-apocalyptic action genre!

The story is set in a dystopian United States of America (USA) where a contagious disease named ‘Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration’ kills 98 per cent of children and teenagers. Those who do survive develop powers and are imprisoned, categorised into different levels of colour by their abilities.

Ruby Dale (Amandla Stenberg), who has the power to invade people’s minds, is an orange – the highest level – who spent six years disguised as a harmless green. She escapes and crosses paths with three others – Liam Stewart (Harris Dickinson), Charles aka Chubs (Skylan Brooks) and Suzume aka Zu (Miya Cech) – on their search for a rumoured safe haven.

After long journeys, betrayals and close brushes with death, Ruby commits herself to a resistance group to fight for their future and Liam’s freedom. Before sending him off, Ruby uses her powers to erase all of Liam’s memories of her.

I was curious to see what happened to Chubs and Zu who were earlier separated from the main leads, where Liam would go with a half-erased memory and how Ruby would help lead the resistance.

Aside from the tears and heartbreak, I personally felt that the story had a lot of potential with all its unanswered questions.

Its plot reminded me of several series like Maze Runner, Hunger Games or even Divergent. And it got me looking forward to how the story would unfold, but looks like it’ll only be in the books.

Me Before You, which was a hit in 2016, features Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) who is left with one option after losing her job – to take care of recently-paralysed man Will Traynor (Sam Claflin). The two became much closer than they had expected.

The movie shot to fame for its sweet yet heart-wrenching storyline of a relationship that was the embodiment of ’till death do us part’.

Whether it was the cliché story of ‘girl melts stoic guy’s heart’ or ‘guy gains hope after meeting a girl’, I was hoping Will would both find a reason to live again and actually continue living.

I do want to see how Louisa continues living her life though, as she follows her dreams and fulfills Will’s last wish for her to “just live”.

However, the story ended on a sweet note and some may argue that it should be left as such. On the bright side, there’s the book sequel titled After You by Jojo Moyes if you’re interested. Or maybe someone should make a movie adaptation of the book.

Salt, an American action thriller film released in 2010, starred actress Angelia Jolie as a Central Intelligence Agent (CIA) agent named Evelyn Salt. She is accused of being a Russian sleeper agent who is planning the Russian president’s assassination.

She flees and sets out to prove her innocence. With her cover blown and husband missing (and eventually dead), Salt has to choose between her heart and her duty.

I am a fan of movie plots that aren’t so straightforward. After all, who doesn’t fancy a mind-boggling storyline that keeps you thinking?

Salt encompassed that concept very well.

I feel the secrecy, conspiracies and lack of trust between characters keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. It’s like a game and when I’m able to guess what’s happening next correctly, I feel a sense of victory.

I didn’t obsess over Inside Out like most people. But since its popularity was through the roof, I gave it a watch and actually enjoyed it.

Within the mind of 11-year-old Riley are five core emotions – anger, sadness, disgust, joy, fear – which control her feelings and actions from the main console.

As Riley and her family move to San Francisco, her emotions struggle to cope with her new life. Chaos ensues as joy and sadness are separated from the other emotions and Riley’s ‘personality islands’ start shutting down, she becomes an emotionally-unstable child.

From portraying emotions as sentient beings that control our actions to memories being stored as coloured orbs and managed like a library, I found its concept rather intriguing.

I could relate to each emotion throughout the movie and I have to say, fear and disgust were honestly such a huge mood.

A possible sequel could feature an older Riley during high school, coping with all the complex emotions and maybe even a love interest.

Imagine how her emotions would react to her having a crush! I’d sign up to see Riley’s emotions in that kind of chaos any day.

As a young child at heart, I loved watching Rise Of The Guardians for its innocent-like plot and visually-appealing graphics. And Jack Frost, of course.

An evil spirit, Pitch Black aka the BoogeyMan, returns and threatens to harm the world’s children. A group of immortal guardians with extraordinary abilities, named Guardians, are tasked with protecting them.

Jack Frost, a 300-year-old immortal with ice powers (think Elsa, but as a reckless teenage boy) is chosen to be a new member. With no memory of his past life and nothing better to do, he joins the Guardians. Together they defeat Pitch and protect the children’s dreams from being polluted by fear and nightmare.

I was really hoping for a sequel, considering how well it charted, but it never came. I doubt I’m the only one who hoped to see more of Jack Frost and the Guardians in action, right?

Last but not least on this list is Sky High, a superhero comedy released in 2005.

It follows lead protagonist Will Armstrong who is the son of famous superhero duo The Commander and Jetstream and, ironically, has no powers. He enrolls at his parents’ alma mater, Sky High, a high school for super-powered teenagers, and there he discovers himself, his powers and who his real friends are.

Although the story had its happy ending, I kind of wanted to see what would happen after.

Did Will grow up to become a world-renowned superhero? What about his sidekick-turned-hero friends? And did the school keep its sidekick-hero hierarchy or was it abolished?

I mean, the movie primarily features its main cast – a group of superpowered teenagers. But what about the entire student body, or their floating high school in the sky!

I can only hope that someone might randomly decide to pick up these movies and produce its sequels. If not, I’m left with endless replays of these favourite films.

And if these sequels actually get released, you know what I’ll be up to – grabbing the popcorn and tickets to the first screening in cinemas!