by Sumner Strickland | staff writer
There have been necessary sequels, some that have truly been better than the original. But, sometimes, a sequel seems to always ruin the entire story forever. Here are the top five best and worst sequels of all time.
Worst sequels
5. The Godfather Part III
While it didn’t kill the entire franchise, it came pretty close. With the addition of Andy Garcia as an Italian and Sofia Coppola in any movie period, destroyed the whole vibe, and on top of that Al Pacino is dragged into one final Godfather cash grab.
4. Speed 2
How do you take a thrilling movie like speed and mess it up? Easy, you make Speed 2. Firstly, don’t replace the main actor. While Keanu Reeves isn’t the best around, you still stick with him or the entire movie will suffer. And just by placing the cast on a boat doesn’t mean you can create one of the most ludicrous story lines in the history of movies. The storyline is a computer tracker breaking into a computer system of the Seaborn legend cruise liner and sets it speeding on a collision course into a gigantic oil tank. Not only does that not make sense, it just doesn’t make even a little effort to get even the lowest common denominator interested in seeing it. A complete and utter failure on all levels.
3. Blues Brothers 2000
The first of the Blues Brothers movies was an entertaining, over the top John Landis film, and that’s all it ever should’ve been. But no, even after John Belushi died the same year the first Blues Brothers was released, they decided to go forth and make a horribly unfunny and painful-to-watch sequel. The plot is not even worth getting into, it’s just a sad sight that nobody should have to endure.
2. Every Sequel to Jaws
This is the reason people hate Hollywood. Jaws being the massive summer success it was, made an ungodly amount of sequels. Three to be exact, but most notably the last two. Jaws 3-D starring Dennis Quaid is set in a theme park and the mother shark is angry that her babies are being taken from her and sets out on a murderous shark rampage. This film is almost worth watching for the insanely bad special effects (most notably is the shark hurling itself towards a pane of glass and when it breaks, it just sits still in the water as if nothing happened). Now on to the second which is Jaws 4: The Revenge, starring Michael Caine and Chief Brody’s wife from the first movie still recovering from her son and her husband’s deaths, goes out to meet her son who’s now an oceanographer searching for the killer shark, and he’s mad. Jaws good name was ruined forever and for always after this movie; nobody can acknowledge the great success of the first movie without hearing of all the dismal flops of the other three.
1. Be Cool
A horribly written book, an even worse movie. The first movie Get Shorty, starring John Travolta follows the story of a mobster who’s also a cinephile, and his move to Hollywood to make movies. Then you have the sequel Be Cool, in which John Travolta decides early on that he’s done with the movie business and he’s moving into the music business for some reason. The rest is a train wreck involving The Rock, Cedric the Entertainer, and no bad movie is complete without an appearance from Vince Vaughn. What made the first one a classic was that John Travolta loved movies more than anything, more than the mob, and especially more than other people. But all that is tarnished when the need for a cash grab is so great that anyone is willing to stoop to this level.
Best sequels
5. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
One of the few movies that is truly better than the two before it, and honestly you don’t even need to see the other two to get what this one is about. But it’s the movie that got Clint Eastwood recognized in the world of acting and brought director Sergio Leone to his legendary status which still holds up to this day.
4. The Evil Dead 2
The classic horror movie from the 80’s is better than its predecessor, in the way that the comedy’s better and it’s not overflowing with cheesy cheap eighties effects. But keep in mind that the cheesy effects aren’t really a bad thing, actually they work really well in both movies, but this one shines above because it doesn’t lose what the first one always kept in mind. There is no such thing as too far.
3. The Dark Knight
The first Batman felt a bit too much like a popcorn munching movie, whereas The Dark Knight does something completely different and makes the environment realistic and has far more interesting characters. In many ways Batman Begins was the student film that led up to what a great classic The Dark Knight was and still is. It is considered a classic because of it’s constant attention to detail, great characters and character development, and it’s ability to challenge the summer box office crowd for the first time. But above all that is the incredible performance given by Heath Ledger, that is what pushed it over the top was a villain who was dynamic and actually scary.
2. The Godfather Part II
The Godfather still is considered one of the best movies of all time, but surprisingly enough it’s sequel is right up there with it and is just as good, if not in some ways better. It delves into the two most memorable characters from the first Godfather Vito and Michael Corleone and the beginning of Vito and the depths of Michael’s character which goes as deep as you can get. The only thing missing is the great performance by Marlon Brando, but is matched by the two great performances of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, a fair trade.
1. The Empire Strikes Back
The sequel that surpasses all sequels, after A New Hope the Star Wars franchise was destined to continue and then came up with the greatest cliffhanger in cinema history. First off (spoilers ahead) Luke gets his hand cut off, Darth Vader is his father, Han Solo’s cryogenically frozen, and it’s left on the bitter sweet note of what lies ahead? There is no better lead in to the last movie of the series better than that. After the two movie successes, it created one of the largest fan bases in history.
