Movie Sequels That You Never Realized Were Just Copying 'empire Strikes Back' (Ranker)

Star Wars paved the way for all future trilogies, and the second entry being its strongest outing means there's no shortage of sequels like Empire Strikes Back. The film might have been a low point for the heroes, but it was a high point for critics and fans. Empire was a character-focused, dark, and deeply internal film that featured one of the best plot-twists in cinema history. In fact, when the credits rolled, the heroes were in a much worse place than when they started. The hallmarks for a sequel clearly ripping off Empire Strikes Back are that it takes the series in a darker direction, features a twist that totally reshapes the story, and finishes on a downer of a cliffhanger that baits fans desperate for narrative resolution. Not every film ripping off Empire Strikes Back does all three, but if the sequel for a movie that wasn't that dark suddenly gets a lot darker, there's a good chance the filmmakers were cribbing from the Star Wars playbook." - ranker.com