It’s common knowledge that many movie sequels fail to live up to the hype and quality of their predecessors. Film studios usually try to follow the money by making a follow-up to a movie that succeeded in theaters. However, filmmakers can’t always replicate the magic of the original film, which has led to some lackluster sequels.
These films can bomb so spectacularly or miss the mark by so much that some even argue that they had no business existing at all. While almost any film can be deemed “unnecessary,” there are many sequels to critically and commercially successful motion pictures that really didn’t need to be made.
Toy Story 4 (2019)
While Pixar made mistakes with most of its sequel movies, the Toy Story franchise was consistent with its high quality, at least until the fourth film. While Toy Story 4 showed Woody reuniting with Bo Peep, the movie didn’t add that much to the Toy Story saga. This is evident in how the story pushes several supporting characters, including Buzz and Jess, aside for new ones in an attempt to keep things fresh.
Though Toy Story 4 isn’t a bad film, Toy Story 3 had a beautiful ending to the franchise. After Andy gave Woody and his pals to Bonnie and left for college at the end of the third film, the fourth seemed like a forced chapter to a story that already ended.
Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)
This DC sequel film showed the Joker seemingly finding his other half in “Lee” Quinzel in a dark musical romance, which seemed like a perfect continuation of the titular villain’s story. Joker: Folie à Deux made a bold meta-commentary about how people perceive and idolize Joker, defying audiences’ expectations with its story and Arthur’s character arc.
However, much of the film recapped the first movie’s events in court, something the audience really didn’t need to see. Likewise, the first Joker movie worked much better as a standalone film, as it offered a sympathetic origin story for the Joker that kept his character a mystery, much like his comic book counterpart.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
The Terminator movies started going downhill with Rise of the Machines, as the franchise very much peaked with Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The latter film had the perfect ending for the Terminator franchise, with Sarah protecting John and the T-800 sacrificing himself to prevent Skynet’s creation.
There wasn’t much the threequel could’ve done to help the franchise innovate after Judgment Day, and it seemed to redo much of what happened in the second film, but with many questionable creative choices. Unsurprisingly, filmmakers tried to retcon this movie twice with Genisys and Dark Fate, and the failures of both films have made a Judgment Day sequel even less desirable.
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
Following the events of 1973’s The Exorcist, The Heretic depicts the investigation into Regan’s exorcism and the deaths surrounding it, leading to a very bizarre and widely reviled story. The movie loses the horror that made the original Exorcist so popular and adds concepts like psychic healers and sci-fi technology that didn’t really fit into the franchise.
Considering how Exorcist III and the TV reboot were far superior follow-ups to the original movie, The Heretic seems to be an even greater misstep that took away from the terrifying mystery and grounded realism of the first film.
Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
The first Space Jam movie was weird, but it certainly had its charm. However, Space Jam: A New Legacy dropped the ball when it came to appealing to audiences. Much of the movie felt like a feature-length commercial for all of Warner Bros.’s IPs as LeBron James traveled across the “Serververse” to assemble the Tune Squad for a basketball game against an evil AI. This sequel was essentially Space Jam meets Ready Player One.
Though this may have been a good idea in theory, Space Jam: A New Legacy lacked the appeal and originality of its predecessor with its thin story and over-the-top product placements.
Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
Speed won over audiences with its thrilling, suspenseful tale, which centered around a bus filled with people rigged to explode if it goes slower than 50 mph. On the other hand, Speed 2: Cruise Control is arguably one of the most embarrassing sequels in cinema history. The second Speed movie literally took the speed out of the franchise by trading the bus for a much slower cruise ship.
Even Keanu Reeves knew this concept wouldn’t be exciting and wisely refused to star in it. Though Cruise Control would’ve been bad even with Reeves, it was only made worse without him, given his chemistry with Sandra Bullock was one of the original film’s biggest highlights.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
The first two Jaws sequels were unnecessary enough, as they didn’t add anything new or worthwhile to continue the franchise. However, the fourth film literally jumped the shark by somehow making the killer beast a sentient, vengeful creature hunting down Ellen Brody and her family because of her late husband’s actions in the first movie.
With this nonsensical story, the Jaws franchise had lost all basis in reality and was trying to do whatever it could to justify its existence and make a profit, making Jaws: The Revenge one of the worst movies of all time.
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