There are plenty of notablemovie franchises that have gone on for too long, with sequels that stretch out the material past its breaking point with mediocre results. However, even more frustrating is when everyone could agree upon the fact that a sequel should be made and genuinely hoped for the best from it. Themost disappointing movie sequels of all timeare often those that should have been an instantly iconic continuation but ended up as just a bit bland (at best).
This is often due to a change in writing or direction behind the scenes,with someone new in charge who didn’t understand the original vision quite as well as its creator did. It could be a case where the best writing was simply used up in the preceding movies, and the latest sequel became noticeably repetitive. Whatever the reason, these movies, from perhaps even before theirfranchises went off the rails, should have been the stuff of Hollywood legend but fell short.
The TerminatorandTerminator 2: Judgment Dayalways existed in the space of the war against the machines being a long-off, horrific future.Terminator 3: Rise of the Machineshad the chance to start showing what that future would actually look like,with John Connor having reached adulthood and Judgment Day upon him. However, the franchise lost something when Linda Hamilton did not return, and the new leads didn’t have the same sharp charm.
Every Terminator Movie & TV Show, Ranked
A staggering 40 years since it launched, the Terminator franchise shows no signs of slowing down, but not all Terminator movies and shows are hits.
Additionally, how the human resistance begins to take shape is simplified and the movie skips over what could have been its most interesting material. Characters who were supposed to become John’s trusted lieutenants are unceremoniously killed off with no consequences, while John and Kate being informed of their future marriage as an attempt to replicate the circumstances of the original is pointless.T3faced the challenge of avoiding repetition, and while it failed to do this, it didn’t delve into anything that could have made it a decent movie in its own right.
2019’sJokermay have been divisive, but it executed its grittier-than-ever vision of Gotham City well, earning a Best Picture nomination and a Best Lead Actor win.Joker: Folie à Deuxset itself up to be a very interesting sequel, meant to further explore crime and poverty in Gotham with an unabashed genre shift,becoming a jukebox musical and co-starring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. While the movie received some praise for its performances, most of its other creative choices were deemed nonsensical.
Namely, the musical format could have been something legendary if better blended with the grainy crime drama, but it ended up being a redundant embellishment that disrupted the rest of the movie. This all leads up to a disappointing, nihilistic ending that proved that this particular iteration had worn out its welcome in the larger Batman franchise. Still, with some different story decisions and more deft use of the music, it could have been amovie sequel better than the original.
Perhaps the million-dollar question is: “Would Speed 2 have worked if Keanu Reeves had returned?” It is not as if Reeves has never starred in a bad movie, and he reportedly turned down the part because he didn’t like the script to begin with. The absence of one of Reeves' best action heroes is certainly one flaw withSpeed 2: Cruise Control. Yet this is hardly the movie’s only problem.
Speed 2 Would Have Sucked With Or Without Keanu Reeves
Although the popular actor passed on the role, Speed 2 was beset by so many problems that Keanu Reeves' presence wouldn’t have made a difference.
The sequel toSpeedcould perhaps have been an iconic follow-up, albeit one that rehashes elements of the original, if it had leaned into its titular idea and found a new, high-speed, high-stakes situation that tops the first. However, the cruise ship concept clashes with what madeSpeedgreat to begin with. The conflict isn’t particularly clever, the performances are uninspired, and there is plenty of weak writing in between;Speed 2was headed away from triumph and towards disaster from very early on.
Finding Nemois still one of thebest Pixar movies of all time, and part of what works about it is its simplicity. The fish are anthropomorphized, certainly, but it is still merely about a long and arduous journey where they “just keep swimming” while reckoning with the emotional fallout of what’s happened. Following up on one of the Pixar greats,Finding Doryhad a lot of hype building up around it, especially with the real-world persona of Ellen DeGeneres doing the marketing for them.
Finding Dorywas, sadly, a sequel that just didn’t live up to the original, if that was ever possible to do. By all means,it is a decent movie with a new take onFinding Nemo’s themes of a family searching for each other in a vast and unforgiving world.There are also some great new supporting characters who add to theFinding Nemo-esque charm. However, it goes astray in the final act with some ridiculous action and, overall, it doesn’t have the sameje ne sais quoiof being one of Pixar’s classics that could have made it an awesome legacy sequel.
Wonder Womanis rightfully called one of thebest superhero movies of all time, also making for one of the best DC Comics adaptations. However, Diana loses some of her edge as a character in the sequel with a “be careful what you wish for” plot stuffed with goofy, annoying villains. There is some profound character development for her, as she grapples with the pain of giving everything and getting nothing and discusses a legend that inspired her, with a perfect cameo to boot.
However, just about everything else distracts from the emotional core of what is an over-the-top story with no lasting consequences. Some will fervently argue thatWonder Woman 1984wasn’t so bad of a movieand deserves more acknowledgment for its strengths. However, regardless of internal quality,its reception proves that it fell flat of being the epic sequel thatWonder Womandeserved,which could have built upon the themes of its predecessor rather than going with a different lesson altogether.
The final installment in the mainHunger Gamesseries remains its lowest-rated chapter, including its “Part 1,” and just beating out the prequelThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The secondMockingjaymovie should have been the epic conclusion to one of the biggest franchises in history, dealing with some of the books' heaviest themes.Katniss discovers that the new government she has been fighting for also has the potential to be corrupted,and that evil is everywhere in humanity.
2012
84%
2013
90%
2014
70%
2015
2023
64%
However, theMockingjaymovies both struggled with stretching out repetitive material enough to make two installments, and it becomes especially dull in the last one. It feels like it is simply going through the motions of tying up all the loose ends, and character deaths happen haphazardly without the weight they are due.The Hunger Gamesdoubtlessly had its high point elsewhere and wasn’t destined to have as iconic of a finale.
Alienis a masterclass in space horror, recasting the haunted house plot and cementing the final girl trope in the dark and merciless void of space, with a terrifying monster that hides until the very end like all good monsters do.Alienswas taken up by a different legendary director who lent his more action-oriented insights to the project, representing a genre shift but with just as stellar results that again relied on the leading lady power of Ellen Ripley.Alien 3, likeTerminator, should have been the better-than-ever third installment.
Every Alien Movie In The Franchise, Ranked Worst To Best
Ridley Scott’s Alien marked a shift in the sci-fi genre and kicked off a space horror franchise, but there’s definitely a worst and best Alien movie.
However,this can generally be traced as the point where theAlienfranchise started to fall in inconsistent quality. Going from Ridley Scott to James Cameron to then-newbie David Fincher,Alien 3could have succeeded with an off-beat thriller approach. However, possibly due to behind-the-scenes troubles with budget and studio interference,Alien 3is simply dull, with some divisive moments early on and pacing that can’t match the electricity of every moment of the other two.
Star Wars: Episode IXshould have reached the lofty heights of the most larger-than-life movies in history,bringing the iconic Skywalker Saga to an end. It was a task that would’ve been nearly impossible in the best of circumstances, which wasn’t what the sequel trilogy had with two directors with conflicting visions. About half ofThe Rise of Skywalkeris trying to undo storylines developed in the previous movie, while the rest is fumbled plot twists reusing old characters to force the movie to be poignant.
The entire affair is a rushed mess and a sad end to one of the most famous stories of all time. Odd moments of fan service punctuate this, and it once and for all proves that Disney should have laid out a plan for its trilogy from the beginning. What should have been an absolutely legendary sequel failed to do justice to the iconic characters of old and the truly great new ones, whose arcs trailed off into disappointment.
