There is certainly nothing wrong with sequels, as revisiting a franchise with a compelling new story can often result in great results. There are even some sequels, such asThe Godfather: Part II, Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Aliens,andBefore Sunsetthat are not only considered to be better than their predecessors, but among the very best films ever made.
Unfortunately,there are many bad sequelsthat have no reason to existother than to make money and profit off of the investments made on the original property. The ways in which these very disappointing sequels attempt to replicate the past without adding anything new or innovative can be very cynical, as it just makes the entire creative process feel tired. Here are the ten most tired movie sequels of all-time, ranked.
10‘A View to a Kill’ (1985)
Directed by John Glen
A View to a Killmarkeda new low for the James Bond franchise, as it quickly putRoger Moore’s tenure as Bond to an end. While the films that Moore had starred in had grown increasingly silly with each subsequent installment,A View to a Killwas so ridiculous that it felt like a parody of the franchise.
Moore was clearly not engaged in the story, and delivered a performance that clearly lacked the same enthusiasm that he had shown in better installments likeLive and Let DieandThe Spy Who Loved Me. Despite the fact that the film included such goofy villains as Max Zorin (Christopher Walken), it also included a surprisingly violent ending in which many innocent people were killed, which simply felt at odds with the more light-hearted tone that the film had tried (but undeniably failed) to capture in its earlier moments.
A View to a Kill
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9‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ (2016)
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Independence Day: Resurgencewas a sequel that was two decades too late, asRoland Emmerich’s style ofover-the-top blockbuster filmmakingdidn’t appeal to audiences in the same way that it had when the 1996 original became the biggest hit of its year. While the originalIndependence Daywas a fun disaster movie that featured many charismatic actors,Independence Day: Resurgencewas a dull slog that seemed to take now joy in the inherent absurdity of its premise.
Will Smith notably chose not to reprise his role in the film, which led to a severe lack of charisma at its center. While the younger starsMaika Monroe, Liam Hemsworth,andJ.T. Usherattempted to add something to the story, their characters were so underwritten that they sadly ended up not having a significant impact. Even returning cast members likeJeff GoldblumandBill Pullmanlooked visually bored.
Independence Day: Resurgence
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8‘Jurassic World Dominion’ (2022)
Directed by Colin Trevorrow
Jurassic World Dominionsomehow managed to be the worst installment in theJurassic Parkfranchise, which is no small statement considering how radically the series has fallen since the original film was released in 1993. While some sequels likeThe Lost World: Jurassic ParkandJurassic Worldcan at least be enjoyed as guilty pleasures,Jurassic World Dominionrevolves arounda ridiculous conspiracy storylinethat is far too convoluted and dull to be entertaining.
The most disappointing aspect ofJurassic World Dominionwas the lack of cool dinosaur action, which one would think should have been the major priority for the sequel. Returning cast members likeSam Neill, Laura Dern,andJeff Goldblumwere just wasted. If theJurassic Parkfranchise is to have any sort of future moving forward, it would be best ifColin Trevorrowstayed away from it entirely.
Jurassic World Dominion
Rent on Amazon
7‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (2019)
Directed by Todd Phillips
Joker: Folie à Deuxis a sequel that seems to hold the audience in contempt, as it constantly undermines the themes of its predecessor by reiterating that Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is not the real Joker, and is not deserving of any sympathy. Although it’s notable thatTodd Phillipswanted to make an old-fashioned Hollywood musical, the numbers are so dull and lifeless that they fail to add anything to the story.
The main issue with theJokersequel is its lack of narrative momentum, as it putsfar too much attention on a legal court casethat doesn’t actually have any influence on the plot. Although the firstJokerfilm surprised viewers when it became an object of critical acclaim, the sequel indicated that anything that had been even remotely successful about the original had been somewhat of a fluke.
Joker: Folie a Deux
Joker: Folie à Deux explores Arthur Fleck’s ongoing struggle with his dual identity as he unexpectedly discovers love and unleashes his hidden musical talent. Set against a backdrop of societal unrest, Arthur’s journey intertwines personal transformation with chaotic encounters, leading to profound shifts in his life and the world around him.
6‘Friday the 13th: A New Beginning’ (1985)
Directed by Danny Steinmann
Friday the 13th: A New Beginningis the most disorienting installment in theFriday the 13thfranchise, as it had to pick up after the saga had delivered its most entertaining installment yet withFriday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Although the fourth film in the series had introduced compelling new heroes and offered a conclusion to the story of Jason Voorhees, the terrible fifth filmintroduced a mystery surrounding the identityof a new killer that had nothing to do with the original mythology.
Friday the 13th: A New Beginningis just nasty to its characters, as the kills are blunt and violent, but not very scary. Thankfully, the saga was able to redeem itself with the subsequent sequel,Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, which took the series in a far more cheeky and self-aware direction than it had been previously.
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
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5‘Star Trek V: The Final Frontier’ (1989)
Directed by William Shatner
Star Trek V: The Final Frontierserved as the directorial debut of William Shatner, and it is not surprising at all that it is still the only film that he has made. While his co-star,Leonard Nimoy, had proven himself to be a great director withStar Trek III: The Search for SpockandStar Trek: The Voyage Home, Shatner clearly did not have a grasp on the pacing needed foran exciting science fictionaction and adventure story.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontierdeals with dull concepts regarding philosophy and religion, many of which were far better depicted in episodes of the original series. While many of the actors had been playing their roles for well over two decades, they steadily began to transform into caricatures due to the poor writing inStar Trek V: The Final Frontier.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Captain Kirk and his crew must deal with Mr. Spock’s long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy.
4‘Halloween Kills’ (2021)
Directed by David Gordon Green
Halloween Killswas proof that theHalloweenfranchise had nowhere left to go, as it effectively killed the momentum that had been initiated by the 2018 reboot from directorDavid Gordon Green. While the previous film had succeeded in showing how an older Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) dealt withher feelings of anxiety and guilt,Halloween Killsopted to be a bluntly violent spectacle that was severely lacking in any legitimate scares.
Halloween Killsmakes the unfortunate decision to try to tie itself back into the 1978 originalby using flashbacks that explain why certain characters were there, and how it connected to the present. This indicated that the franchise was so lacking in any original ideas of how to move the story forward that its only option was desperately to flood the gates with nostalgia regarding the best movie in the series.
Halloween Kills
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3‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ (2017)
Directed by Michael Bay
Transformers: The Last Knightis the most grating, obnoxious installment in theTransformersfranchise yet, as the series had consistently been on a downward trajectory afterMichael Bay’s first film from 2007 was a surprising success. The film is packed with unnecessary lore that tries to tie in the mythology of the Autobots and Decepticons into various events in human history, including the reign of King Arthurand the end of World War II.
Transformers: The Last Knightmade the ridiculous decision to turn Optimus Prime into a villain, a twist that doesn’t end up having impact because it is reversed by the time that the story is over. The film is also severely lacking in its human characters, asMark Wahlbergis evidently lacking in the sort of charisma thatShia LabeoufandMegan Foxhad in the previous installments in the series.
Transformers: The Last Knight
2‘Dark Phoenix’ (2019)
Directed by Simon Kinberg
Dark Phoenixbrought the coreX-Menfranchise out with a whimper, and proved once and for all that “superhero fatigue” was a real thing.AlthoughJames McAvoyandMichael Fassbenderhave always been excellent in their roles as Professor X and Magneto, respectively,Dark Phoenixcast them aside to focus on a plot twist revolving around Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) that even a movie comic book reader could spot coming from a mile away.
Dark Phoenixlacks any of the visceral qualities of its predecessors, as its recreation of the 1990s simply feel bland. Even thoughJessica Chastainis one of best actresses working today (and would win an Academy Award for Best Actress just a few short years later for the acclaimed biopicThe Eyes of Tammy Faye), her performance as the main villain is downright embarrassing.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
In this continuation of the rebooted X-Men movie series, Jean Grey begins to develop incredible powers that corrupt and turn her into a Dark Phoenix. Now, the X-Men will have to decide if the life of a team member is worth more than all the people living in the world.
Watch on Disney+
1‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child’ (1989)
Directed by Stephen Hopkins
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Childis a complete betrayal of everything that had made the franchise good in the first place, and served as an insult to whatWes Cravenhad accomplished. Although much of the magic of the character of Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) was that his backstory was shrouded in secret,A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Childexplored how he was conceived through a graphic scene of assault that was simply horrific to watch.
A Nightmare on Elm Streetwas just unpleasant to watch,as the body horrorwas clearly intended to be shocking, but not particularly scary. Although it led to an even worse sequel inFreddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Craven was thankfully able to take control of the series when he made the underrated 1994 sequelNew Nightmare.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
The pregnant Alice finds Freddy Krueger striking through the sleeping mind of her unborn child, hoping to be reborn into the real world.
