Everyone and their auntie's pet squirrel is raving about the new Mamma Mia! film - iconically titledMamma Mia! Here We Go Again - and saying that it's even better than the first edition, which is basically unheard of in sequel culture.

It's true, with sequels becoming a guaranteed way to make coin at the box office more so than ever in the past decade, everyone knows that while sequels of our beloved faves may be comforting, they don't always make for the best viewing experience.

However, for every ten'Sex and the City 2's in the world, there is one special exceptionthat manages to exceed all expectations and deliver quality that goes beyond the original.

Struggling to think of some? Well, let us help you out with that...

The Dark Knight

We may as well start the list with (not up for update)'the'best sequel of all time: The Dark Knight. The second film in Christopher Nolan's Batman film series, it single-handedly transformed the nature of superhero films as it is simply an unbelievably brilliant film on its own merits, whether you'd seen the first movie or if youknew everything ornothing about Batman. It's a thrilling ride from beginning to end and features Heath Ledger'slegendary (and tragically fatal) performance. If you haven't already seen it, put it at the top of your todo list. Now!

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

Drew, Cameron and Lucy set the 'bigger and better' requirement of sequels with the iconic Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. The sequel came with more action, more explosions, more dancing, more fun and more stars! From the Olsen twins to Eve to Demi Moore and P!nk - she sang the official soundtrack single - the second Angels movie is just all-in-all a better watch, which is saying something because the first is still amazing. Ugh, can't we just reunite these three instead of the reboot? No offense, Kristen Stewart.

Ocean's 8

Okay, okay, okay - this one might'technically' be a spin-off rather than a sequel, but considering the plot continues on from the original trilogy we're counting it as a sequel.Ocean's 8 is the critically-acclaimed, all-female film in the Ocean's series that just came out this summer and it was totally worth the agonising wait. Starring Sandra Bullock, Rihanna and Sarah Paulson in the one movie, it's a hilarious, badass film about girl power, scamming and getting money, honey. We loved it.

Meet The Fockers

First came Meet The Parents then we met the Fockers. Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro and co. were joined by no other than Barbara Streisand (!!) and Dustin Hoffman for Meet The Fockers, theridiculously hilarious follow-up to their hit rom-com. This time there was a swearing baby, sexy yoga for pensioners, a father-in-law drink spike; it's quite frankly wild but ultimately a heartwarming rollercoaster. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

Scream 4

Cleverly promoted as SCRE4M, the fourth instalment of the Scream series should be the dictionary definition of 'sequel'. Seeing the originals beforehand isn't completely necessary to follow the film, however it adds to this film's magic tenfold. Self-referential and inspired by the very first movie, it takes the series to a whole new arena while feeling natural and fitted to the beloved '90s classics. Besides all of the original stars returning (yay!), Emma Roberts delivers an exceptional performance as a deranged teen scream queen. Love, love, love.

Final Destination 2 - or is it 3?

We're going to leave this one up for debate. While initially we believed that the'best'sequel in the Final Destination series is the first one - FD2 - we do realise that some of the most iconic death scenes come from movie #3. C'mon, the tanning bed scene? It is literally'still'commonly brought up whenever tanning shops are mentioned and gave a whole generation an irrational fear of using them (not a bad thing, we suppose). It all went a bit downhill after FD3 but these two movies are absolute gems.

High School Musical 3

This one is not up for debate, okay? High School Musical 3 is unquestionably the best HSM movie. The songs, the production, the make-or-break of Troy and Gabriella's romance, the impending doom of life after high school - it's all'SO. MUCH.'Things certainly don't verge beyond PG-13 because, duh, it's Disney but HSM3 is amazing in every way. 112 minutes of pure joy. The glory days of Disney died when this trilogy was completed - we're still in mourning - but thank goodness we'll always have this.

Words: Ross McNeilage