All personnel involved in film making are aware of the risk that is present when a sequel is in the works. Fans of the initial film(s) also wait with bated breath, knowing that sequels are usually either hit-or-miss. Now, there have been some really, really bad sequels, but as far as franchises are concerned, the probability of a crash-and-burn film is overwhelmingly high, there just doesn't seem to be enough viable ideas to keep audiences intrigued by the same characters time and time again. Let's take a look at some movies that just should not have been made, plain and simple. If anyone has the desire to watch any of these films, proceed with caution, spoilers ahead.
Alien 3
(Photo: IMDb)
We were first introduced to the Alien franchise in 1979, starring Sigourney Weaver as the admirably badass Ellen Ripley. The first Alien movie was amazing, but was greatly overshadowed by Aliens, the sequel that cast Ripley in a much different light when an orphan girl named Neut is now involved. I, personally, am a huge fan of the first two Alien films, and also a huge fan of Weaver as an actress and person. However, the 1992 film Alien 3, kicked off the rapid decline of the franchise. The movie's plot centers around a distraught Ripley crash landing on Fiorina Fury 161, a maximum security space-prison, after she awakes from cryo-sleep to find that her beloved Neut didn't survive the journey. Furthermore, she brought an unwelcome visitor along with her (spoiler: it's an alien.) Although Alien 3 isn't the worst film in the franchise, it set the stage for 1997's Alien: Resurrection, which was a train wreck if I ever did see one. I'm a firm believer that if Alien 3 had never been made, the first two movies would have concluded an amazing story in just five brief hours, cumulatively. Always end on a high note, Alien producers.
Jaws: The Revenge
(Photo: IMDb)
Steven Spielberg's 1975 film Jaws is widely known as a complete cinematic masterpiece. The characters portrayed in the film--including the shark named Bruce--captured the hearts and gag reflexes of movie-watchers everywhere. Spielberg, aware of his bountiful success with the film and the risks involved in creating follow-ups, declined to be involved in the sequels. Jaws 2 premiered in 1978, and although it didn't have nearly as much of an impact as the first film, it still made a splash. However, Jaws: The Revenge, which premiered in 1987, is critically acclaimed to probably be the worst film of all time, labeled with a painful 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. The story follows the the widow of the first film's star, Chief Brody, attempting to sacrifice herself to a great white shark after one of her sons where eaten by him, and Chief Brody inevitably, never got over the encounter in which he announced that "we're gonna need a bigger boat." Ellen Brody is played by Lorraine Gary, and aside from her striking resemblance to a corpse in the film, her acting performance was sub-par. The film not only ended the franchise, but it tarnished characters who were so loved in the first film. I guess the great white got his revenge, in the form of the end of Lorraine Gray's career, (too harsh?)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
(Photo: IMDb)
The failure of the most recent Indiana Jones film broke my little teenage heart when it came out. As a huge fan of Spielberg and George Lucas' work, as well as being slightly obsessed with Mr. Harrison Ford, I had really high hopes for the 2008 film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Although I was relatively heartbroken over the fact that Sean Connery didn't return to play Henry Jones Senior, my eyes welled up when Karen Allen returned as Indiana's first love interest, Marion Ravenwood, who also turned out to be the mother of his child...who regrettably was Shia LaBeouf. The film struggled as the audience adjusted to LaBeouf's presence, and Ford struggled to find his footing in this new version of Jones, although that may have been intentional. Regrettably, my opinion of this film may have been tarnished by my dislike for Cate Blanchet, but overall, I thought the film was a flop, although it did conclude the legacy of Indiana Jones rather nicely.
Spider-Man 3
(Photo: IMDb)
Aside from the fact that Toby McGuire was an absolutely atrocious Peter Parker, 2007's Spider-Man 3 was a hard, screeching halt to the already averagely-rating series. Many critics and fans just weren't happy with the casting from the very beginning, but the story line of the third film was just a bit too outlandish for viewers. Aside from Parker's period of split-personality where he went goth, (which I think was supposed to be Venom?) the film's plot suffered in many other ways, which made it an inevitable failure, resulting in the producers pulling the plug on the film to try and reboot the superhero again. This gave birth to the Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone film, The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012. Although this film made the Toby McGuire series look Academy Award worthy, it still failed to impress critics, much to my dismay.
Hannibal
(Photo: IMDb)
I would like to predecease this by saying that Anthony Hopkins' performance in Silence of the Lambs can never be hindered by any other character he has or will ever play because he was just that brilliant. Hopkins' 17-minute performance as the infamous psychopath Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs slated the character as one of the best villains in cinematic history. However, the 2001 film, Hannibal, was a complete disaster. Part of the glory of Lecter's character was that he was totally bonkers but was completely brilliant and an academic. Hannibal showed a side of him that didn't coincide with the rest of the character, thus tarnishing the creepiness of him from Silence of the Lambs. A poorly-written mish-mash of gore and crappy dialogue, Dr. Lecter would have been much more effective had they left him alone with his 17 minutes of infamy from the original film.
