31 Brutal Movie Sequels That Couldn’t Hold A Candle to Their O.G.

Pinpointed moments where a franchise went off the rails
31 Brutal Movie Sequels That Couldn’t Hold A Candle to Their O.G.
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We don’t want to go 100 percent Negative Nelly here, so we’d like to start by congratulating the original movies that did well enough to warrant sequels. It must be a great feeling for everyone involved, right? They’re sitting back after a long bout of movie-making, and they get to see that their work is adored by millions of people! Very cool.

So why couldn’t they — or the randoms who took the reigns — keep that success train rolling? Whether these sequels were failed cash-grabs or just strikeouts from those who genuinely wanted to make a good movie, all that adoration was replaced by hateration.

Grease 2

Failed Sequels Grease 2 They couldn't catch Grease Lightning in a bottle again. In 1978, Grease was Paramount's second highest grossing film (behind The Godfather). But by 1982, that '50s bad boy style felt stale. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John didn't return for it. CRACKED

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Failed Sequels X-Men: Dark Phoenix It's been done. The final installment of the Fox reboot was same- old, story-wise, as the Jean Grey turned dark plot had been done in X-Men: The Last Stand (which was itself a failed sequel). CRACKED

Staying Alive

WORST SEQUELS EVER STAYING ALIVE The Saturday Night Fever sequel has an annoying Rocky underdog story feel, which was, of course, the result of Sylvester Stallone directing. But Stallone himself only became involved with the project after Travolta spent years rejecting darkers script, then saw Rocky III and went, yes, that is what I want. CRACKED.COM

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

WORST SEQUELS EVER SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE Christopher Reeve was too inexperienced as a director to helm the entire project. Richard Donner, claims he was asked to return, and Wes Craven was hired, but didn't vibe with Reeve. Reeve suggested Ron Howard, but Sidney J. Furie was finally booked. CRACKED.COM

Blair Witch 2

WORST SEQUELS EVER BOOK OF SHADOWS: BLAIR WITCH 2 A classy documentary director, Joe Berliner, was hired for this film. But wanting to make it marketable, Artisan screwed up his vision and made him ditch all the slow build-up for more blood and exposition- the exact opposite of the 1999 original. CRACKED.COM

Batman & Robin

Failed Sequels The franchise failed to land on a tone. Where fans and critics thought Tim Burton's second Batman was too dark, Joel Schumacher overcorrected with a cartoonish installment featuring the now-iconic Bat Nipples. Batman & Robin CRACKED

Shaft (2019)

Failed Sequels Shaft (2019) Shaft failed to pass the baton. Samuel L. Jackson's Shaft in 2000 was a critical and financial success, but in 2019, his return was outdated and unnecessary, and lost almost $15 million. CRACKED

Terminator: Dark Fate

Failed Sequels Terminator: Dark Fate We must go back and stop this movie from happening! Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and James Cameron reunited to take things too far. This sequel quickly states that the entire mission of the original two films was all for nothing. CRACKED

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Failed Sequels Sin City: A Dame To Kill For A singular style is hard to recapture. Nine years after the original, this sequel kept its great cast and style, but felt irrelevant. It lost over $25 million. CRACKED

Evan Almighty

Failed Sequels Evan Almighty The scene that launched an ark. In Bruce Almighty, fans loved Jim Carrey forcing sleazy news anchor Evan (Steve Carell) to babble on air, but why this warranted an entire Noah's Ark sequel remains a mystery. CRACKED

The Rage: Carrie 2

Failed Sequels The Rage: Carrie 2 Just another teen-filled horror flick. In 1976, a blood-soaked teen drama was groundbreaking, but by 1999, we'd seen it all. Critics called it a tired, boring rehash with less horror and more annoying teen angst. CRACKED

The NeverEnding Story II

Failed Sequels The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter A never-ending story that needed an ending after all. The German original film found massive success in the U.S, but the sequel was a step down both visually and in storytelling. Not to mention: it lost almost $20 million. CRACKED

Basic Instinct 2

Failed Sequels Basic Instinct 2 A lot changed in 14 years. Back in 1992, the original set the bar in the erotic thrillers genre. But that had long cooled by 2006, so the sequel was behind the times of the standards set by the original. CRACKED

The Matrix Resurrections

Failed Sequels vit H PC ME PO RF 71Q The Matrix Resurrections A movie not even its creator wanted. Almost 20 years after the trilogy, co-creator Lana Wachowski came on board reluctantly, and it showed. Fans noticed the self-deprecating themes, and it kind of tarnished the trilogy. CRACKED

Predator 2: Lost in L.A.

Failed Sequels Predator 2 Predator 2: Lost in L.A. It sounds like a fictional movie in the BoJack Horseman universe, but nope. Bringing Predator from the rainforest to Los Angeles and overcomplicating the story confused fans, and it fell way short of its successful original. CRACKED

Blues Brothers 2000

Failed Sequels Blues Brothers 2000 If you want nostalgia, just watch the original. In 1998, Dan Akroyd teamed up with John Goodman - which seemed like a slam dunk, but it only reminded fans of how good Aykroyd and John Belushi were back in 1980. CRACKED

X-Men: The Last Stand

X-MEN: THE LAST STAND CRACKED.COM The first 2 X-Men films were critical and financial successes, and gave us Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. The 3rd was rushed, and scheduling conflicts lead to strange character rewrites, tanking what could have been a solid trilogy. X-Men: First Class got X-Men back on track 5 years later.

Godfather III

THE GODFATHER III CRACKED.COM 1 and 2 meld so perfectly together that HBO released 7.5 hour The Godfather Еріс, featuring both films (and deleted scenes) cut together in chronological order. The incest storyline and Sofia Coppola's performance usually has 3 excluded from the conversation all together.

Zoolander 2

ZOOLANDER 2 CRACKED.COM A critic who prides himself on sitting through anything walked out. The sequel undid the heart of the original, opening on the center for kids who can't read good burning down, Matilda dying, and Derek being a neglectful father. Many were offended by Benedict Cumberbatch's caricature of a transgendered model.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

ON STRANGER TIDES CRACKED.COM The 3rd film wasn't the best, but it wrapped up the trilogy nicely. Without Orlando Bloom & Keira Knightley, critics say this 4th installment, and obvious cash-grab, forced in new characters, and the previously iconic Jack Sparrow came across as a tired caricature.

Blade: Trinity

BLADE: TRINITY CRACKED.COM The first 2 Blade films laid the critical and financial groundwork for the modern superhero boom. It all went wrong in #3, Blade: Trinity. Studio feuds with Snipes, and a director swap resulted in a disappointing conclusion to the trilogy, and character.

The Jaws Sequels

EVERY JAWS SEQUEL CRACKED.COM Steven Spielberg cites Jaws as his hardest directorial challenge, by far. It's easy to believe when we see how far each sequel came from recreating the magic. The decline told through rotten tomatoes is... Jaws: 98%, Jaws 2: 61%, Jaws 3-D: 11%, and Jaws The Revenge: 0%.

American Psycho 2

AMERICAN PSYCHO 2 CRACKED.COM Patrick Bateman is murdered by a 12 year old girl who then kills innocent people to try and become an FBI agent, so she can help save lives by stopping other serial killers. One of the worst sequels of all time, we're left wondering why American Psycho even needed a sequel.

Mulan 2

MULAN 2 CRACKED.COM Having gained the respect of her family and country, the story of Mulan had a perfect ending. Proving Mulan didn't need a sequel, it focused mainly on her romance with Li Shang, perpetuating the old Disney trope that it really is all about getting the guy.

Mean Girls 2

MEAN GIRLS 2 CRACKED.COM Be honest, did you know there was a Mean Girls 2? Premiering on ABC Family, then direct-to-video, the few unfortunate viewers saw a reboot with worse characters, and no connection to the original (other than Tim Meadows as the principal).

Son of the Mask

SON OF THE MASK CRACKED.COM 1994's The Mask gave us Jim Carrey's cartoonish brilliance, and luckily we got so much more of him over the next decade, because he was sadly missed in 2005's Son of the Mask. The awful script, effects, and Jamie Kennedy's performance paled in comparison.

Caddyshack 2

CADDYSHACK 2 CRACKED.COM Did you know it existed? 1980's Caddyshack is a comedy classic. It wasn't an initial success, but it slowly grew into a cult classic, warranting a sequel in 1988. With no Rodney Dangerfield, no Bill Murray, and a family friendly PG-rating, this forgettable flop has a 4% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Speed 2: Cruise Control

SPEED 2: CRUISE CONTROL CRACKED.COM Critics and audiences loved 1994's Speed, and it obviously made a ton of money (grossing 300 mill) or it wouldn't have warranted a sequel. The sequel failed in every way by replacing Keanu Reeves with Jason Patric, and setting Speed on a slow-moving cruise ship.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL CRACKED COM Fans thought 1989's Last Crusade was the, well... Last Crusade, because they rode off into the sunset! 19 years later, 2008's Crystal Skull made some people tons of money (grossing 790 mill), but poor CGI, aliens, the nuke & the fridge, and South Park's perfect critique, keep it far from the first 3.

Home Alone 3

HOME ALONE 3 CRACKED.COM To this day, Home Alone has grossed half a billion dollars. Some fans say Lost in New York was one too many, but it had Macaulay Culkin, the original cast, and it plays just as much around Christmas. Anyone not on the Home Alone money train could do without 3, 4, 5 and a 6th in 2021!

Spider-Man 3

SPIDER-MAN 3 CRACKED.COM Critics call Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002) & Spider-Man 2 (2004) some of the best superhero films ever made. In Spider-Man 3, Raimi was forced to add villains, Topher Grace was painfully miscast as Venom, and Spidey's jazz/emo phase had the trilogy's Rotten Tomatoes score read: 90, 93, 63.

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