Sometimes it’s money, and sometimes it’s just the “oopsies.” Here is how mediocre sequels and spin-offs have ruined 15 great movies.
Many great movies have come across our lives, and some of them have even been the definition of our childhood. It didn’t matter where we watched them, either. Be it on TV or a theater, we equally enjoyed them solo or with friends. And while some of them needed over a decade to finally release a glorious sequel, and make everybody wet their pants for excitement, they were met with huge disappointment. If that sounds familiar, then check out our list of 15 movie titles that were irreparably ruined by a sequel.
1. Star Wars
The latest Star Wars trilogy was so bad that I didn’t even bother to watch the last one, and judging from the reviews, it looks like I made the right call. I’ll try to keep this short and avoid the details.
The main problem with those sequels, is the constant diversion from the main idea of Star Wars, the contradictory plot, the reuse of old characters and elements, the bigger and more unoriginal ‘Death Stars’, the resurrection of Palpatine, the political correctness that doesn’t belong in any movie, the nostalgia milking instead of putting effort in innovation, etc. In short, I’ll pretend this trilogy never existed, and so should you.
2. Marvel Cinematic Universe
The problem with the MCU titles isn’t their quality, because they’re simply amazing. The main issue lies in the sheer number (total of 24!) of the related movies that have been produced so far. As if the four The Avengers installments weren’t enough, we have another three individual movies per MCU character (Captain America movies, Iron Man movies, Spider-Man movies, etc.), and it’s simply too hard to keep track of the plot, or watch them in the appropriate order.
Perhaps you don’t need to watch all of them to understand the main idea, however, it can still be important for understanding the characters and their relationships with each other. So, if you plan on properly watching the MCU movies, then you should get some online help to point you in the right order to watch them.
3. Terminator
The Terminator series started losing grip after the third installment. Onward, it was just a steep decline in the quality of the sequels due to the plot holes, paradoxes, extreme alterations of the script, and the constant milking of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cheesy quotes that date as back as 1984.
Nothing, however, was as bad as Terminator: Dark Fate. Let’s say it was conclusive evidence that the series needed to stop. It completely disregarded everything that was achieved so far from the series. John Conor gets terminated, ‘Skynet’ is replaced by ‘Legion’, in the future terminators look nothing like before, John Conor gets replaced by Natalia Reyes, ‘T-800’ (Arnold’s terminator) gets to be a stepdad and can now grow old, and many other mumbo-jumbo additions that you’d rather not see if you’re a Terminator fan.
4. Godzilla
The 2014 and 2019 Godzilla (‘Monsterverse’) movies were a huge redo compared to the original series, dating back from 1954 to 2004. The models and art style were kept close to the original source, and I’d say that with the help of modern technology they became a great audiovisual enjoyment on the big screen.
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) was the third part, and although it generally follows the same lines as the previous ones, plot-wise, it declines. This was mainly due to the watered-down version of Godzilla in order for Kong to be able to compete with him, the introduction of a rushed ‘Mechagodzilla’, and the overly complicated ‘Hollow Earth’ world. Still, not the worst on this list.
5. Pacific Rim
Pacific Rim (2013) went from some cool robot movie with a balanced serious tone and occasional comical relief, to edgy teenagers piloting robots to fight gigantic mean monsters. Plot-wise, Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), was far worse than before. The Kaijus’ (big monsters) purpose was to commit suicide by dropping in the lava of Fuji mountain in Japan to poison Earth’s inhabitants with their toxic blood combined with lava. That was so dumb and there was so little thinking when the script was written. Earth’s surface is too big for that to work in real life, especially when considering that only one Kaiju monster was needed to accomplish all that. But wait, there is more!
The cherry on the cake, was the physics. The ‘Jaegers’ (robots) no longer had any weight issue due to their size, and they made little impact during their fights. It felt like watching those old Power Ranger movies, where a stunt guy simply dresses like a robot whilst completely disregarding physics. The monsters (Kaijus) didn’t do justice either. Their design became weirder and more irrelevant. The main actors from Pacific Rim (2013) were removed and replaced with actors that had no chemistry among them. As a hardcore fan of the title, I was utterly disappointed. If you need an answer to understand why this happened, it was due to Guillermo del Toro not being part of the production.
6. Transformers
Transformers (2007) was perhaps the first and last decent Transformers movie ever made. Anything after that became increasingly ridiculous to the point where you could barely stand watching it, especially the fifth one. The writers stopped caring about the script, and Michael Bay didn’t fail to show his immeasurable love for explosions. I doubt that even 5-year-old kids could find them enjoyable.
7. The Maze Runner
My question while watching the trilogy was: “Why is it called THE MAZE if there are no mazes!?”
The Maze Runner was captivating and enjoyable. It felt like a refreshment compared to what we’d seen so far with its mysterious and gigantic maze, the memory loss of the characters, and the impossible mission they had to accomplish against the terrible creatures lurking inside the maze. Neither the viewers knew what was going to happen, but then the mystery finally unfolded in the second and third sequel, and it made a 180 degree rotation from what it was. It truly became a typical action zombie/apocalypse cliché. It felt like an irrelevant version of the first movie.
8. Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park was the first of its kind to represent dinosaurs in all their glory. I watched it as a kid and I still remember every scene like it was yesterday. The plot and the cast members did justice, and it slowly became an iconic name. Even though the second and third installments exaggerated certain aspects of the dinosaurs, they were far from bad movies.
The series went downhill with the release of Jurassic World (2015). Elements like: repetitive plot, comic reliefs, Owen (Chris Pat) owning and commanding dino-pets, unrealistic T-Rex abilities, dangerous areas of the park being accessible to kids, the stereotypical angry Indian manager, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) running in high heels throughout the whole movie, were just some of the examples that ruined it. You can’t possibly take it seriously anymore, and it feels like only children should watch it.
9. X-Men
X-Men: days of future past, past of past future, in the future of the past, in the past of the fut-… I think that’s enough. I got utterly confused, and I don’t want to watch any of this anymore. That includes the latest dreadful Wolverine spin-off. I am looking at you, Logan (2017).
In summary, X-Men started off as one of the greatest trilogies of its time, and it easily became one of my favorite titles. However, it got botched because production companies can’t get their hands off the cow. All I can say about every X-Men movie after the initial trilogy is: “Sounds good. Doesn’t work.”
10. Alien Series
Alien-related sequels have always been unique and captivating. I’ve become a fan of the series without even realizing it. All the Alien titles have been enjoyable, regardless of their dark and gory nature. They have their ups and downs, but everyone can agree that Ridley Scott and James Cameron knew what they were doing all along.
The sequels started to deteriorate when crossovers butted in, such as Alien vs. Predator (2004), due to plot contradictions with the other movies. The protagonists of the crossovers were forgettable irrespective of their decent performances. Prometheus (2012) and Alien Covenant (2017) were high-quality movies, but they also failed to coherently present the missing pieces of the Alien Universe, hence, confusing us even more.
11. Die Hard
Die Hard 1,2 and 3 follow the typical cop-action archetype of the late 80s and 90s, which were also my favorites. In the third one, Bruce Willis gets to collaborate with Samuel Jackson, to give us 2 hours of fast-paced action in New York City. The action scenes sometimes were over the top and the comic reliefs were unrealistic, but they suited the style of the movie. This was all possible due to Bruce being able to perfectly fit his quirky personality into the protagonist. And then the 4th and 5th installments come along to give us “WTF?!” moments.
To be honest, I hardly understood why the last ones were even called Die Hard. They were nothing like what we’ve watched before. The unrealistic action scenes were still there, however, they completely lacked the necessary charisma to make us forget about the bad physics. The attention was also drawn from the protagonist, and Bruce Willis didn’t radiate energetically like he used to. This gave me some Rambo 5 vibes, and they were merely offensive to the originals.
12. Mission Impossible
None of the Mission Impossible titles ever felt trash to me, and Tom Cruise has carried the sequels with hard dedication and great acting skills. In general, he doesn’t even use stunts in any of his movies. The main problem with the Mission Impossible sequels, was that they turned into some sort of never ending James Bond sequels. Like, when do the missions of Jack Harper end?
Just like in the other examples, the “energy” in the action scenes is no longer there. I feel it should have ended with Mission Impossible: III, where things started to become unrealistic in an attempt to maintain the interest of the audience. Melodrama was introduced as well, and the room for improvement was shrinking by the second. But the producers just couldn’t back off.
13. James Bond
James Bond movies have always been my cup of tea. I think everybody has watched at least one James Bond movie in his life. All the great actors have had the pleasure of taking 007‘s place at some point in their careers, providing us with hours of entertainment of every boy’s wet dream.
Two problems, however, arise when it’s a never-ending series. One: you can’t easily attach and detach yourself from the actors you get attached to. It’s too hard to pretend that you’re comfortable with every new actor taking the role of James Bond. Two: good storylines end at some point, and then a**pulls take place in an attempt to keep things exciting and interesting, by discarding the realism from the movie.
14. Cars
Cars (2006) started off great by introducing us to the positive, but over-confident and somewhat narcissistic nature of Lightning McQueen. He took things lightly due to his confidence, but was quite serious when things mattered. The main character was developed throughout the movie, and ended up showing us his sensitive and caring nature. In the meantime, the animation, the art style, and the immersive races were there to keep the adults, and children alike, stuck on the screen.
Cars 3 (2017) came along to throw everything into the bin. Lightning McQueen turned into some low-confidence, slightly depressed, tryhard that was soon replaced by some random secondary character, and that was supposed to be a great change. McQueen, no longer being the nr.1 did not sit quite well with me, and the overall mood of the movie became too emotional and dramatic. That’s a “no-no” from me.
15. Rambo
The most iconic movie of all time turned out to be a movie about an old veteran trying to get on with his life. Every time I try to watch a Rambo movie, I end up watching all three of them because I can’t decide which one I like the most. Well, that was about to stop with the introduction of the 4th and 5th installments.
Rambo 4 (2008) was a mistake, to begin with, and it already showed that the lifestyle of an ex highly-skilled marine still involving himself in the most dangerous missions, could no longer be sustained. John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) was already retired, old and out of shape, and his sluggish movements showed that too compared to the slender and agile body he had in Rambo 1, 2, and 3.
Rambo 5 (2019) was the epitome of a bad movie. The producers, as usual, will not just let go, and turn everything into some half-baked drama movie. I won’t go into the details, but you’re about to watch a grandpa marine getting his a** kicked, during his feeble attempts to rescue a girl in Mexico.
Do you have any other movies you’d like to add?
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