Sequels you thought were better than the first

Aliens
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
The Dark Knight
Underworld: Evolution
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The Chronicles of Riddick
The Godfather Part II

Home alone 2
Kick puncher 3 the re punching

One example The Raid 2 (2014) I thought was better than the original "The Raid" (2011). Both John Wicks 2 and 3 were slightly better than the first (however solid) John Wick (2014) film. Hostel Part 2 (2007) better than the original 2005's Hostel movie.

There are a million examples in the Horror genre. I've always found the 'original is always the best' mindset a basic b!tch safe approach people love to accept and take.

Here's a list of Horror sequels that I think are better than the original or arguably better (roughly equal).

Countless Friday the 13th sequels (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, FvJ)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, ANOES 4: Dream Master & New Nightmare
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 & TCM: The Next Generation
Halloween II & Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Leprechaun 3
Bride of Frankenstein & Son of Frankenstein
Childs Play II & Bride of Chucky
Aliens
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
The Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf
Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers & Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland
Piranha II: The Spawning
Evil Dead II
Underworld: Evolution
Prom Night II: Hello Mary Lou
Exorcist II: The Heretic & The Exorcist III
Return of the Living Dead III
Wrong Turn 2
The Conjuring 2
Saw II & Saw III
Dawn of the Dead & Day of the Dead
Final Destination II & Final Destination III
Happy Death Day 2u
The Devils Rejects
The Revenge of Frankenstein & Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
The Brides of Dracula

Some great sequels there, a few more I like more than original ;

Army of Darkness
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Endgame
Deadpool 2
Desperado

Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016). Technically a prequel that has only the loosest of connections to 2014's Ouija and it is about a thousand times better than that film.

Dawn of the Dead
Day of the Dead (1985)
Aliens
Die Hard 2
Death Wish 3
Revenge of the Nerds part II
Rocky II

Godfather II I think is a better film than Godfather.

The Dark Knight

Captain America the Winter Soldier

A Very Brady Sequel, though I like the first one, the second one is definitely funnier

I think Star Trek II is better than TMP, both are amongst my favorite SF films ever

T2, but I've never owned any of the Terminator films

Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer, ok it's not a high bar to beat the first but I enjoyed this sequel, flawed as it is