History SequelEscalation / LiveActionFilms

** Isla Nublar goes from hosting a handful of [=VIPs=] taking a preview tour of a few barely-functioning attractions in ''Film/JurassicPark'' to a fully open and populated resort zoo with hundreds of dinosaurs and thousands of guests in ''Film/JurassicWorld''. The effects, action, and deaths scale up commensurately.

** The primary dinosaur antagonists get upped in scale as well. ''Film/JurassicPark'' had the original ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' and three ''Velociraptors''. ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'' had a mated pair of ''T. rexes'' (and their baby) and a pack of ''Velociraptors'', while ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' introduced the ''Spinosaurus'', bigger and meaner than the ''T. rexes'' seen before, in addition to a far smarter ''Velociraptor'' pack. ''Film/JurassicWorld'' took it even further, with the powerful and sadistic hybrid ''Indominus rex'' and four ''Velociraptors'' that had been trained by humans and could respond to commands (though they were still wild animals). ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'' scaled things back, with the only remaining ''Velociraptor'' being Blue and the main dinosaur antagonist being the FlawedPrototype ''Indoraptor'' (though it somehow proved to be even more sadistic than the ''I. rex''). However, ''Film/JurassicWorldDominion'' appears to have escalated again, with the ''Giganotosaurus'' being the largest theropod in the franchise and stated to have a desire to watch the world burn, and at least three species of raptors appearing in the film (''Velociraptor'', ''Pyroraptor'' and ''Atrociraptor'').

** Once the series was revived, [[Film/TheForceAwakens Episode VII]] harkened back to the original trilogy, and escalated on that too: an attack of massive creatures throwing back to the Rancor and Dianoga; a lot of foot battles; and Starkiller Base, a "Super Death Star" built out of ''an entire planet''. Then [[Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker Episode IX]] took the EarthShatteringKaboom idea ''way'' past eleven with an entire ''fleet'' of Star Destroyers armed with planet-busters.

** Incidentally, ''Film/RogueOne'' is an immediate prequel to Episode IV, so we get Prequel ''De''escalation; the first "single-reactor" ignition of a Death Star (which is also the first firing, period). Not enough to blow up a planet. Just enough to cause an extinction event. It's also an example of escalation, because it's the ''only'' time we see major named characters on a planet being struck by Death Star-type weapons twice in fact, and this contrast actually serves to underline the threat of the DS-1 in the original trilogy, and the sheer threat level of the thing.

* The [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest second]] and particularly the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd third]] ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' films feature more and more insanely over-the-top CGI and action sequences, epic plotlines and 300-million budgets. The [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides fourth movie]], however, is intentionally scaled back, returning to the more modest and character-driven style of the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first film]]. While the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMenTellNoTales fifth film]] is certainly less action-packed than second and third movies due to shorter running time, it drops the trend of back scaling style of ''Stranger Tides'', somewhat returning to the escalated plot of the previous films.

*** ''Film/HomeAlone3'' To add on the stakes in this movie are now absurdly higher than the previous two movies, as the series went from Robbies to North Korea possibly nuking America and taking over the world!

** After tangling with Thanos and saving the universe, Strange returns for ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', facing villains from multiple alternate universes, plus Spider-Man. One of the signature scenes in the film is the same surreal, kaleidoscopic maze, but now Strange is in control (showing his development) and it ''combines'' NYC's buildings with a lot of natural landscapes. Including really hard things like the tree-filled Central Park.

* ''Film/{{Jaws 2}}'' ramped up the body count. Also, they tried to increase the shark's "scariness" factor by scarring it with fire. ''Film/Jaws3D'' increased the size of the shark from the still-believable 25 feet of the first two films to an impossible 35 feet. ''Film/JawsTheRevenge'' had the shark be 35 feet long ''and'' have a vendetta against the Brody family as well as psychic abilities.

** The first film was dark and down-to-earth (or at least as down-to-earth a movie about a giant dinosaur could get). The sequel added another monster, but the realistic tone remained for the most part. However, ''Film/KingKongVsGodzilla'' not only gave the series a much larger scale, and a bigger budget, but it was a lot lighter than the previous two. ''Film/MothraVsGodzilla'' was bit darker, but the film did explore into fantasy elements. The next two films featured beings from space, and the tone on the two was light. The following two had no space elements, but were still very light in tone, and featured many monsters. ''Film/DestroyAllMonsters'', originally intended as the finale, not only had aliens, but 11 monsters, and a fun, light, tone. The next film, brought the series to a whole new level, gearing it towards little kids, and having Godzilla be portrayed as a fictional character. The films from the seventies were filled with aliens and monster, and had over the top stories, and very light tones. However, 1975's ''Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla'', while still had aliens, was given a far darker tone, and while the film has been well-received by critics, the film failed at the box-office, leaving Godzilla on a 9-year hiatus.

* ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' is particularly egregious with how each sequel escalates the threat Jason Voorhees poses. He goes from being TheGhost in [[Film/FridayThe13th1980 the first film]] to the main villain in ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPart2 Part 2]]'', then a main villain who survived what should've been fatal wounds in ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartIII Part 3]]'' before ''finally'' being KilledOffForReal in ''[[Film/FridayThe13thTheFinalChapter Part 4]]''. After being a RedHerring in ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVANewBeginning Part 5]]'', he returns as a nigh-undefeatable RevenantZombie in ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIJasonLives Part 6]]'' before contending with a psychic protagonist in ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIITheNewBlood Part 7]]'', taking Manhattan in ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIIIJasonTakesManhattan Part 8]]'', and being revealed to be a ''literal spawn of Hell'' in ''[[Film/JasonGoesToHellTheFinalFriday The Final Friday]]''. Then he takes his campaign of terror '''''[[RecycledInSpace into space]]''''' in ''Film/JasonX''.

** ''Film/AGoodDayToDieHard'': Moscow and Chernobyl.

* True to the title, ''Film/HellboundHellraiserII'' took a few of the same characters from the first film, which was essentially a haunted house story, and placed them in, well, Hell. The makers of the third film, ''Film/HellraiserIIIHellOnEarth'', tried to get around the problem of topping Hell itself by promising a film where the series' antagonists, the Cenobites, are unleashed in an urban setting. The end result was not well-received, to say the very least. ''Film/HellraiserBloodline'' has not one but three different stories about the Lament Configuration, and the framing story [[RecycledInSpace doesn't even take place on Earth]].

* ''Film/JohnWick'' overlaps this with DenserAndWhackier. The first movie is a straightforward revenge story about a retired mob hitman fighting TheMafiya because the boss’s son beat him half to death and killed his dog. The only glimpse of anything more fantastic is The Continental, a hotel which caters primarily to assassins and other underworld types. The sequels put him up against an Illuminati-esque NGOSuperpower that secretly runs the world, the plots revolve around [[BloodOath blood oaths]] and the like, most cities seem to be some sort of {{Gangsterland}} where half the people you see on the streets are professional killers and gunfights are so common civilians and police barely react to them, setpieces include things like high-speed motorcycle katana fights, and the body count is upped accordingly (he goes from an already-impressive 77 kills in the first movie to a whopping 140 in the fourth).

* The first ''Film/JohnWick'' has a straightforward revenge plot about a former mob hitman fighting TheMafiya in [[BigApplesauce New York City]] because they killed his dog. The only glimpse of anything more fantastic is The Continental, a hotel which caters primarily to assassins and other underworld types. The sequels put him up against an Illuminati-esque NGOSuperpower that secretly runs the world, most cities seem to be some sort of {{Gangsterland}} where half the people you see on the streets are professional killers and gunfights are so common civilians and police barely react to them, and the body count is upped accordingly (he goes from an already-impressive 77 kills in the first movie to a whopping 140 in the fourth).

* In the first ''Film/JohnWick'', the titular character was fighting TheMafiya in [[BigApplesauce New York City]]. In the sequel ''Film/JohnWickChapter2'', he's fighting an organization of assassins in [[SequelGoesForeign Rome]].

* ''2-Headed Shark Attack'' is followed by ''3-Headed Shark Attack'' and ''5-Headed Shark Attack'', with a '''6'''-header on the way.

* The first ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' movie was fairly low-key compared to its sequels. It's rather obvious they got bigger budgets after the first one became a hit.

* ''Film/HomeAlone II: Lost In New York'' is very RecycledInSPACE in terms of plot, but the traps are much more brutal. One of them even ending in an explosion!
** The third ''Film/HomeAlone'' movie is even worse about this, with one of the traps being ''a lawn mower falling on a man's face''. They also change the bad guys from petty thieves with big aspirations to terrorists/smugglers and make the traps much more elaborate; at one point the main character has a budgie riding a remote-controlled car strike a match to light some dynamite to blow up the criminal's leader.

* ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'' broke the record for most vehicular collisions in a single movie, and its sequel made sure to smash the record again.

* Creator/JamesCameron decided to escalate the numbers of ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' when he made that sequel, but since one was dangerous enough, the characters would have to be soldiers just to have some kind of chance. But he did not let that get in the way of the suspense, even with turning it into part action film.
** Then both averted when compared to the first ''Film/{{Alien}}'' film and also inverted when compared to the second film during the events of ''Film/{{Alien3}}'' due to the fact that it only features one Xenomorph Runner throughout its whole entire runtime and also absolutely no manmade weapons for Ripley and the Fiorina "Fury" 161 innates to use against him just so that he can have a fair chance at being able to single-handedly kill them all off despite them actually having him outnumbered 26 to 1 at first.
* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' had the highest film budget at the time and is widely considered as good or better than [[Film/TheTerminator the first film]]. ''The Terminator'' (1984) had a KillerRobot in human disguise, with a punch strong enough to ''penetrate'' you, assigned to kill the mother of a future hero before he was even born with only a BadassNormal sent to protect her. ''Terminator 2'' had a VoluntaryShapeshifting Killer Robot, who could imitate almost anybody and form it's appendages into sharp weapons, sent to kill that future hero ''himself'' when he was still a kid with a reprogrammed Terminator (of the same model as the BigBad in the first film) protecting him despite being an obsolete design.

** Incidentally, ''Film/RogueOne'' is an immediate prequel to Episode IV, so we get Prequel ''De''escalation; the first "single-reactor" ignition of a Death Star (which is also the first firing, period). Not enough to blow up a planet. Just enough to cause an extinction event. It's also an example of escalation, because it's the ''only'' time we see major named characters on a planet being struck by Death Star-type weapons. [[spoiler:Twice.]] This contrast actually serves to underline the threat of the DS-1 in the original trilogy, and the sheer threat level of the thing.

* ''Film/{{Crank}}'', [[UpToEleven big time]]. While ''Crank'' was already over-the-top, they pulled all stops on second one and included more [[{{Gorn}} violence]], [[{{Fanservice}} sex]], {{Squick}} and [[RefugeInAudacity general absurdity]] in [[Film/CrankHighVoltage the second one]].

* You can tell from the opening disaster alone that the filmmakers intended to take ''Film/FinalDestination2'' UpToEleven. And the sequels kept on growing and growing, to the point where the over-the-top deaths were ''parodied'' in ''Film/FinalDestination5''.

* Here's a little experiment you can do at home: go watch ''Film/TheHumanCentipede'', a film about three people who get sown together by their mouths and anuses. Note that its sequel has the subtitle ''The Full Sequence''. Look at an actual centipede. Then look back at the three sown-together people. This experiment goes out the window for the last instalment in the trilogy, ''Final Sequence'', [[UpToEleven which features a centipede composed of 500 people]]. Even Tom Six himself has stated that upping himself for a fourth movie is all but impossible unless he resorts to stitching up the Earth's entire population.

* ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'' lampshades this trope as it pertains to horror movies, providing the page quote in the process. It also tops the original by having, among other things, [[AllPartOfTheShow a murder in a crowded movie theater]] and the killer crashing someone's car.

** Incidentally, [[Film/RogueOne]] is an immediate prequel to Episode VI, so we get Prequel ''De''escalation; the first "single-reactor" ignition of a Death Star (which is also the first firing, period). Not enough to blow up a planet. Just enough to cause an extinction event. It's also an example of escalation, because it's the ''only'' time we see major named characters on a planet being struck by Death Star-type weapons. [[spoiler:Twice.]] This contrast actually serves to underline the threat of the DS-1 in the original trilogy, and the sheer threat level of the thing.

** In [[Film/ANewHope Episode IV]], the Empire pursues Rebels in a Star Destroyer. In [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack Episode V]] the Empire pursues Rebels in a Super Star Destroyer that is many times the size of a Star Destroyer and is the flagship of a fleet of Star Destroyers. [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Episode VI]] shows dozens of Rebel ships fighting the Super Star Destroyer, even more regular Star Destroyers, and the second Death Star, which is much larger than the first.

** The climax of ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'' involved a bull ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'' being brought to San Diego and wreaking havoc before he's recaptured and returned to Isla Sorna. In ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'', numerous dinosaurs are taken from Isla Nublar and brought to Northern California...[[spoiler:and instead of going back to the island, they're unleashed on the United States]].

** The [[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious2001 original movie]] can best be described as "''[[Film/PointBreak1991 Point Break]]'' with cars". It's a fairly small-scale story whose climax is Brian rescuing one of Dom's team from a trucker with a shotgun, and it has barely (if any) CGI. Beginning with ''Film/TwoFastTwoFurious'', the series began introducing more CGI and over-the-top chase sequences, to the point that ''Film/FastAndFurious6'' involves a tank chase on a highway and ''Film/Furious7'' has the team outracing a military drone. Lampshaded by Owen Shaw when he first meets Dom, who notes how far the latter has come from simply stealing truckloads of DVD players.

* The ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' sequels saw the traps and "games" becoming increasingly elaborate, and the violence much more explicit (most of the violence in the [[Film/SawI original film]] was offscreen: the two most gruesome acts in the film, [[spoiler:Lawrence sawing off his own foot and Adam beating Zepp to death with a toilet lid]], happen almost entirely offscreen). Curiously, the original film's twisty plot structure and use of AnachronicOrder was something also escalated by the sequels, to the point that trying to synopsize the overarching plot structure is a very challenging task indeed.