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5 Worst Sequels Ever… Prove Me Wrong!

By Nathan Franklin
The ‘Transformers’ soundtracks introduced LP to a younger generation in the late 2000s. “New Divide” sounds appropriately robotic while maintaining an organic rock rhythm. It doesn’t appear on any of their studio albums, but the song achieved success as a single.

The World of cinema is an amazing and intricate universe. But we don’t often talk about the worst sequels of them all. Full of movies that have captivated people for generations. With so many hit movies throughout several different genres. It’s difficult to follow up on an amazing movie with an equally magnificent sequel. For various reasons, many movies fail to live up to the expectations of a quality sequel.

To know why so many sequels fail, perhaps it’s best to understand why the best sequels worked out so well. Some of the best sequels ever made did so well because they captured the same magic or overall feeling of the original. It’s so hard to make the sequel have the same magic as the first movie while creating a compelling story. There are so many great examples of this. Star Wars is a perfect film to look at.

Worst Sequels
MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)
A Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi movie “Darth Vader” helmet valued between $40,000 to $60,000 that will be auctioned on December 13 at the Paley Center for Media by the ‘Profiles in History auction house in Calabasas, California, on December 6, 2018. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) (Photo credit should read

Everything comes back bigger and better than the original in the Empire Strikes Back. You get a vile Darth Vader who seeks vengeance on Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and the Rebel Alliance. The action certainly picks up from the original film, and you even get to see brand new weapons with the Empire utilizing their AT-ATs or “walkers”. This movie has so much happening; it perfectly expands upon an already amazingly established universe. Last but not least, there is perhaps the biggest reveal in cinema at the time with Darth Vader telling Luke that his father did not die, but he is his father.

The Worst Sequels and Why They Fail

But what about all the movie sequels that didn’t pan out? So many movies tried and failed over the years. The worst sequels have to be talked about as well. The movies that failed to meet expectations so miserably that they must be held accountable. Some failed for more obvious reasons than others. Some of the worst sequels seemingly didn’t try to create something compelling.

Others may have tried but were only shooting a movie as a cash grab, which profit is the biggest motivator for making movies in the first place. However, when a movie creates a sequel that doesn’t even come close to the original, it does waste everyone’s time. You must remember that even then, the worst sequels have inflated box office numbers because of how many people were forced to find out how bad they were! Keep scrolling to discover which movies made the list of the 5 worst sequels.                           

  • Jaws The Revenge

    The original Jaws is one of the most iconic films ever created. It’s a film that will live on in the film industry for an eternity. The second installment in the Jaws franchise is a different story. It’s a movie that really was only created to attempt to capitalize on the success of the original and the film horrifically failed.

  • Grease 2

    Grease was an iconic film; the sequel was a major disappointment. The plot was horrible or non-existent, and the story really was just a weak repeated adaptation of the original. It didn’t feel like the original, but it also did not feel like its own idea. Overall, it was a failure by every measure.

  • Zoolander 2

    Why Zoolander 2 was released at all is a major headscratcher. Sure, you could accuse the original film of being silly or stupid, but that was kind of the point. The sequel is just a mess of a film that tries too hard. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and watch it.

  • The Exorcist 2

    There is a bit of a reoccurring theme: an amazing and widely beloved movie with a sequel that could not build upon it. The Exorcist shocked the world and is one of the most memorable movies ever made. The sequel suffered majorly from the simple fact that it had absolutely zero continuity.

  • Jurassic Park The Lost World

    This is an extremely personal one for me. The original Jurassic Park is a masterclass of filmmaking, but the sequel is stinky and hot and filthy. It’s the only movie in the series that has an unbelievably stupid plot, and that is saying something. Nobody is as stupid as the plot of this film. Yes, in other films, there are extremely bad ideas about dinosaurs. However, capturing all of the dinosaurs that were living on a secluded island only to bring them to downtown San Francisco has to be the most moronic plot for a film ever to grace the big screen. Again, none of the films are flawless in their plots. But The Lost World has a teenage girl best a velociraptor because she failed her gymnastics school tryouts, and “she doesn’t give up.” Come on!

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