There’sno shortage of bad sequelsout there. Recapturing the magic of a beloved film in a second or third installment is like catching lightning in a bottle twice. This being said, even lousy follow-up flicks are usually smart enough to understand the thematic and stylistic appeal of the original.
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Some movies, however, are made by a studio and a creative team that, for some reason, does not understand what made the original so unique. Some examples of this would be theStar Warsprequels,Spiral: From the Book of Saw, andBatman and Robin: they (and plenty of others) are perfect specimens of sequels that entirely miss the point of their predecessors.
‘Robocop 3’ (1993)
Paul Verhoeven’s brutally satiricalRobocopis one of the most hyper-violent action movies ever. Its indictments of white-collar greed, corporate news, and senseless spectacle made it an instant classic. While not the best movie,Irvin Kerschner’sRobocop 2ran with the first film’s strengths and made a satisfying follow-up that was equally critical of American business culture. Perhaps the best word to summarizeRobocop 3is “underwhelming.” Every single aspect of filmmaking is unimpressive, lackluster, and toothless. Gone is the gritty violence and intelligent social commentary, replaced by a PG-13 rating and a complete lack of the blood packs and grotesque prostheticsthat made the originalso adored.
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Orion Studios madeRobocop 3for a much younger demographic. They realized their most devoted fans were teens and kids but didn’t understandwhy. Orion even made one of the lead characters a precocious 8-year-old girl that doesn’t have the acting chops. Children couldn’t care less about the human characters; they want to see Robocop (Robert BurkereplacesPeter Wellerin this installment) shoot people to shreds! The suit looks like cheap plastic, and the score resembles a whimsical family picture more than an action movie. It’s shocking how much police propaganda is inRobocop 3, a far cry from the first two films lambasting those institutions. The cops in this movie quit their jobs to take a selfless stand against gentrification, taking up arms against OCP when it tries to vacate poor people from their homes (“It’s time to show how real cops kick-ass!”). Even in 1993, this sentiment was pathetically hollow and naive.
‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ (2021)
When the poorly handledGhostbusters(2016) underperformed, Sony Pictures quickly abandoned its trajectory for the franchise. They rebootedGhostbustersin 2021 with the equally unwatchable, damage-controlled,Ghostbusters: Afterlife.Afterlifefelt like it was made “by committee” to be as marketable and inoffensive as possible. Gone are the jokes and satirical elements of the original; instead,Ghostbustershas been mutated from a fun comedy franchiseinto a transparent, self-serious mess.
The firstGhostbusterswas belovedfor its clever writing, ground-breaking special effects, and the comedic stylings ofDan Akroyd,Bill Murray, and the lateHarold Ramisat the height of their power.Afterlife, ironically, has no soul of its own. Its prime focus is to pander to fans to get butts in seats. The MCU andTop Gun 2are chock-full of Easter eggs and fan service, but they are at least brave enough to try something a little interesting.Ghostbusters: Afterlifeis just the firstGhostbustersmovie thrown into a blender withStranger Things. The product placement is particularly embarrassing, but perhaps the biggest insult is the uncanny CGI rendition of Harold Ramis, which feels exploitative and manipulative.
‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ (2020)
“Be excellent to each other, and party on dudes!”
Decades ago, audiences fell in love with two affable dimwits named Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves), destined to bring unity to the world through their band’s (Wild Stallions) message of love and acceptance. The belated third installment,Bill & Ted Face the Music,retcons the entire philosophy of the first two films. Instead of Wild Stallions’ attitude inspiring humanity,Face the Musicrewrites their influence to merely one (terrible) song. At the end of the movie, this song is improvised by everyone in the world, in every period, simultaneously. Not only is this logistically convoluted, even for aBill & Tedfilm, but it’s a hollow sentiment that completely misses the point of the series. Wild Stallions was just a vehicle for Bill and Ted to spread their philosophy of peace, not just one vague “magical song.” At the end ofBill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Wild Stallions is a touring phenomenon, bringing peace to the hearts and minds of people all over the globe. In the newest entry, however, the writers pass off Wild Stallions as a short-lived fad with no lasting impact.
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Bill and Ted went from globetrotting legends to unsuccessful schlubs in no time.Guns ‘n’ Rosesare still selling out arenas worldwide based on the strength of their 35-year-old debut album, yet the much more famous Bill and Ted can only get a gig in a dive bar? It’s a lot of retconning just for the sake of a mediocre sight gag. Besides the philosophy,Bill & Ted3fails in every technical respect. The score is blander, the lighting flatter, and the pacing stilted. Theimpressive production design and manic creativity of the first twoare replaced with sterile, empty landscapes and visual effects that are more outdated than effects from the late 80s.
‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ (2013)
Anybody with even a cursory knowledge ofJohn McTiernan’s action classic,Die Hard, knows that the appeal of John McClane (Bruce Willis) is that he is not an invincibleÜbermenschlike his contemporary action heroes played byArnold Schwarzenegger,Sylvester Stallone, orChuck Norris. Willis’ schlubby, wisecracking McClane is not a super-soldier but just a beat cop in the “wrong place at the wrong time.“Die Hardwasacclaimed for humanizing the typical action archetype, its clear and engaging set pieces, a brilliant villain (Alan Rickman), and quotable one-liners.
A Good Day to Die Hardis a perfect example of everything wrong with current Hollywood blockbusters and the kind of movie from which the original Die Hard set out to distance itself. The camera work is nauseating, and the editing is so rapid that it will make even the most seasoned action connoisseurs queasy. Not only does the 60-year-old McClane now have the plot armor akin toa late-seasonGame of Thronesprotagonist, yet he’s partnered up with his even more impenetrable son, Jack, played byJai Courtney. When the bombastic and over-the-topLive Free or Die Hardwas released in 2007, critics and fans were quick to point out how far from the simplistic charm of the original the series had ventured. YetA Good Day to Die Hardis so bad, ridiculous, and ugly that it makesLive Free or Die Hardlook like an understated masterpiece.
‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ (2018)
It’s surprising thatSicario: Day of the Soldadomanaged to get a theatrical release, considering it’s indistinguishable from your standard straight-to-VOD fare.Josh BrolinandBenecio Del Tororeprise their roles from the first film, lending this sequel toDenis Villeneuve’s chillingSicario(2015) some much-needed validity. InSicario, Del Toro’s stoic assassin, Alejandro Gillick, is portrayed as a morally empty killer who is used as a tool by an opportunistic CIA. In the sequel, however, he is unambiguously framed as a protagonist we are supposed to root for. Where viewers in the 2015 film are meant to be sickened by the dealings of the USA’s intelligence agencies and their inhuman treatment of immigrants,Sicario 2frames the illegal actions of these organizations as a “necessary evil.”
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Day of the Soldadois closer to a rejectedDavid Ayerfilm than it is to a Denis Villeneuve joint. The firstSicarioboasts some of the most intense and finely tuned action scenes of the last decade.Day of the Soldado’s set pieces areforgettable and lack the original’s authenticity.
‘Coming 2 America’ (2021)
The long-awaited sequel to the 1988 comedy classic,Coming to America, is a complete mess. Fans excited to seeEddie Murphyback in the role of Prince (now King) Akeem were quick to express their disappointment with this unworthy successor. InComing 2 America, Prince Akeem plays second fiddle to his estranged son, LaVelle (Jermaine Fowler). As if it wasn’t bad enough that Eddie Murphy has nothing funny to do,Coming 2 Americareverts the relatively progressive Akeem into an unrecognizable traditionalist. Apparently, Akeem’s wife, Lisa (Shari Headley), has devolved from a headstrong, independent feminist into someone fine with living in a country where women aren’t allowed to own a business. It’s meant to be a point of growth for Akeem to eventually realize that women shouldn’t be second-class citizens. Still, this change unequivocally makes him a sexist dictator and means Lisa has been complicit in keeping women down for over 30 years.
There’sone musical/dance sequence in the first movie. Still, the writers ofComing 2 Americaseem to believe that this ritualistic dance scene is the main draw becauseComing 2 Americaspams the singing and dancing sequences like there’s no tomorrow. Additionally, for a movie calledComing 2 America, there’s almost no “America” in the film, even the few scenes set in the USA are on cheap sets against fake-looking green screens. There are no clever jokes to be found, and when there is an occasional gag, it’s just a regurgitated reworking of a joke from the original.
‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’ (2014)
The aforementioned films have a common thread: they’re all directed by different people than their predecessors. This makesSin City 2’s complete failure all the more baffling. All the stylistic choices inRobert RodriquezandFrank Miller’s original 2005 filmSin Cityare thoughtfully constructed. A predominantly black and white movie, it utilizes the odd splash of color to highlight crucial moments and symbolic objects. The way it implements CGI backgrounds, graphic-novel-esque special effects, and neo-noir tropes made it a must-watch experience. In each of the four key segments ofSin City, one crucial silhouetted shot ties the whole film together. InSin City 2,however, Miller and Rodriquez just throw in color and silhouette shots without rhyme or reason.
Anyone paying attention could see the warning signs forSin City 2brewing long before it was released. In 2008 Frank Miller directed the critically pannedThe Spirit, where he utilized all the same stylistic and technological choices fromSin City,but to a much weaker effect. Rodriquez also was in something of a slump, hot off the heels ofsome of the weakest films of his career(Shark Boy and Lava Girl,Spy Kids 4,Machete Kills). When Miller and Rodriquez reunited forSin City 2, the magic was gone. The result is a movie where the directors are clearly just going through the motions.
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