Here is an example of a film where a movie can be ranked "great" or "spectacular", and it's sequel being "even better" and "flawless". The "great, spectacular" film is the first Spider-Man film by Sam Raimi and the "even better, flawless" film being Spider-Man 2, also directed by Raimi.

"Spider-Man 2" succeeds over the first film in all aspects. The parts of the first film that were weak, are improved. The spectacular parts of the first film are now on an even more epic level. In "Spider-Man", I had always felt that the development for the origins of our "heroes" and "villains" were rushed through just to make way for the action and main story lines, which isn't necessarily a bad idea. But in this action-packed sequel, it can deliver MORE action and have BETTER story lines and origins for the characters. The origin for our new villain, Doc Ock, was more understandable, realistic, and developed on the screen and through research than the origins of Spider-Man's first screen villain the Green Goblin. What's more, "Spider-Man 2" delivers us more character development so we can treat these characters like real people with real problems. Peter Parker's struggle is now to live two lives at once. Both of them with heavy responsibility. And of course to deal with the new villain in town.

Another thing I liked about "Spider-Man 2" is that the villains also seem two-sided like real people. There's nothing wrong with a villain who is just pure mean, nasty, and murderous. But Doc Ock is showed as also having a good side to himself as well as a bad side. Human frailties are equally effectively shown in him as in our title character Spider-Man. Both of these characters have aspects of them that need to be shown through computer graphics, and sometimes, they are entirely in CGI. Like the first film, these effects are flawless and now the winner of the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

Overall, "Spider-Man 2" is an improvement over "Spider-Man" and the third installment "Spider-Man 3". It is the best of this epic super hero trilogy, featuring the best storyline, drama, special effects, action, and development. A great achievement for Sam Raimi.