Good prequel films (or prequel films that you like)

[bat39]

Prequels tend to generally get a lot of dislike/hate as a category, with a lot of the usual tried-and-tested arguments - "There's no suspense because we know what happens", "Revealing the character's backstory destroys the mystery", "Continuity errors!" etc. And very often, those are true. And yet, studios wouldn't be making them if they were all inevitable failures. Ergo, there have been some good prequels, even great ones.

In that vein, what are some prequel films that you've personally liked and/or regarded as being good?

If you like you can choose to interpret 'prequel' in the loosest sense, since a lot of reboots functionally serve as 'prequels' of sorts, in terms of turning the clock back to an earlier era than the previous iteration of a series or franchise.

I think X-men First Class was definitely a solid prequel. McAvoy and Fassbender were perfect casting as young Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr, and Matthew Vaughn did a brilliant job crafting a compelling story without too many iconic or even recognizable X-men characters (Notably this is the first X-men film without Wolverine in a significant role!). I loved how the film balanced the tonality and aesthetics of the Silver Age comics with that of the original film trilogy. Mystique was fleshed out into an actual character in First Class, which pretty much launched Jennifer Lawrence's career, and even Hank was given the focus and development that he lacked in X3. All in all, a near-perfect origin story for the X-men.

JJ Abram's Star Trek is another one - though arguably its not technically a 'prequel' so much as it is an 'alternate universe' story and 'reboot'. Still, broadly speaking, it could be viewed as a prequel of sorts, and I think it does a phenomenal job with James Kirk's origin story, the beginnings of his lifelong friendship with Spock, and the Enterprise crew coming together. The time-travel/alternate universe aspect makes this the rare 'prequel' where you get to see the original/future version of an iconic character come face to face with his younger self - getting Leonard Nimoy back as Spock was truly a stroke of genius!

From one 'star' franchise to another, Rogue One is another favorite prequel of mine - one that doesn't focus on the same characters, but rather on the setting. It reminds us that there was always more to the war than the Skywalker clan's drama, and that war is hell in a way that the cute lasers of the original trilogy didn't always convey.

[Nate Grey]

Puppet Master 3
Insidious 4

[JBatmanFan05]

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is by far the best prequel film I have ever seen. Mostly because it's just a great film by itself and doesn't concern itself much with its prequel nature (those parts are there, Indy graduating from more of a cold callous "fortune and glory" mindset to an at least slightly more principle-conscious practice of archaeology, but such prequel aspects are not called much attention to and the subtlety and trusting of the audience is appreciated).

The Godfather Part II prequel portions are also great and deserve mention. They don't hurt anything in the first film, don't hurt any mystique/mystery, only enhance.

There is, apparently, some good evidence that The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a prequel to a film in the Dollars Trilogy, but I don't know, it's hard to view this much as a prequel, even if maybe it is.

Sadly, I don't think there are any others I myself would mention. Not that Predator prequel, not really Fire Walk With Me. So yeah, can't say many prequels have worked enough for me.

[Kirby101]

I agree that Godfather II and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly are great prequels. (It was a prequel according to Leone)

I find Temple of Doom not a good prequel and only a so so movie.

What about Butch and Sundance the Early Days? (That's a Bill & Ted joke)

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Rogue One
Fantastic beasts and where to find them.
X-men first class.

[Jokerz79]

X-Men First Class.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Godfather II as some have mentioned due to flashbacks.

Rogue One.

Bumble Bee.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (Not counting the new films while good I don't consider them Prequels to the 1968 film).

The Good the Bad and the Ugly.

Prey.

Missing in Action 2 the Beginning.

Captain America the First Avenger (Most of the story takes place before then current events by 70 years.).

[krazijoe]

Prometheus, it was not Alien-centric and survived on its own.
Rogue One, what a lead in to Episode 4...Epic...

[Kirby101]

The best sequel was Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

[K7P5V]

Hopefully this counts, but my choice would be...

Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal

[numberthirty]

Guess it would depend on exactly what constitutes a "Prequel..."

Take that latest "Saw..." film

(Or, honestly... One of the other sequels...)

If they technically fit "Before..." some of the films in the overall timeline?

Are they prequels?

[choptop]

Better Luck Tomorrow is technically a prequel to Fast & Furious it's pretty good

[Wildling]

Annabelle Creation and Annabelle Comes Home from the Conjuring universe. They're considered to be huge improvements from the original Annabelle spin-off, and they work both as prequels to the original Annabelle and at least one Conjuring movie (which have multiple Annabelle cameos and mentions). Annabelle Comes Home was a great Home Alone style movie just with demonic artifacts instead of robbers.

[AndrewCrossett]

Prequel portions of The Godfather, Part II
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Rogue One
Captain America: The First Avenger
X-Men: First Class

[bat39]

Prometheus, it was not Alien-centric and survived on its own.
Rogue One, what a lead in to Episode 4...Epic...

I love Prometheus...only didn't include it because I haven't watched Alien yet (yeah...I know )

[ChrisIII]

Better Luck Tomorrow is technically a prequel to Fast & Furious it's pretty good

Technically all the F & F films featuring Han up to 7 are prequels to Tokyo Drift.