It’s sadly all too common for sequels to fail to live up to the quality of their predecessors, but some have achieved critical success by building on the original movie. Only a few sequels have managed to surpass the movies that came before them on Rotten Tomatoes. In most cases, franchises tend to see a drop-off in quality after the first movie. This has happened withMen in Black,Ghostbusters, The Avengersand countless others. Even great sequels likeThe Godfather Part IIdon’t necessarily top the movies that came before them on Rotten Tomatoes.
Many highly anticipated sequels flop hard, because the high expectations from the first movies make it difficult to succeed. Making a sequel is always a risk, because fans want to see something new and inventive, but the movie also has to stick to what makes the original so popular. Movies which can achieve this balancing act can often be more popular than the first movies, likeThe Dark Knight, Top Gun: MaverickandShrek 2.
10 Movie Sequels That Made Viewers Quit Their Franchises
Some franchises meet their doom thanks to a growing disinterest from the public, but other cases have a bad sequel that kills the series.
For a long time,Paddington 2had a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the website’s highest-rated movies. This is partly why some fans have claimed thatPaddington 2is among the best movies ever made, and deserves recognition alongside the likes ofCitizen KaneandThe Godfather.While some of these claims are tongue-in-cheek,Paddington 2certainly deserves its reputation as a heartwarming crowdpleaser.The sequel sees the introduction of Hugh Grant’s charming villain, some hilarious scenes as Paddington is sent to prison, and a final chase sequence which provides some wonderfully satisfying payoff for the entire Brown family.
Christopher Nolan’sDark Knighttrilogychanged the future of the superhero genre by introducing more elements of the crime genre. Of the three movies,The Dark Knightstands out for its electrifying action scenes, as well as Heath Ledger’s iconic performance as the Joker.Ledger is utterly absorbing, and his character is written perfectly to challenge Batman and push him to his limits. The Joker’s philosophy of chaos sets up a number of exhilarating action scenes, all of which show off Nolan’s love for practical effects and large-scale action choreography.
All three movies in Peter Jackson’sLord of the Ringstrilogy were shot back-to-back in New Zealand, so they keep up a consistently high quality.Choosing a favorite from the three usually comes down to a matter of taste, butThe Two Towersmakes a strong case for itself, and it has the highest score on Rotten Tomatoes.The Two Towerssees the Fellowship scattered across Middle Earth, but Jackson balances these different narrative threads expertly. This allows time for some moments of intense personal drama, as well as some of the most breathtaking battles of the trilogy.
TheJames Bondmovies can be enjoyed in pretty much any order, so it’s nothing unusual to see the second movie improve on the first.Dr. Nocreates many of the franchise’s most iconic quirks which can still be seen over 60 years later, and this is helped by Sean Connery’s stylish performance. However, it’s a little light on action, and the plot is rather uneven.From Russia With Lovecan’t be accused of these issues, and it remains one of the verybestJames Bondmovies.The one-two punch of Rosa Klebb and Red Grant are a great pair of villains, testing Bond both physically and mentally as he tries to extract a cryptography device from Istanbul.
11A Shot In The Dark (1964) - 94%
The Pink Panther (1963) - 89%
The Pink Pantherintroduces Inspector Clouseau, Peter Sellers' bumbling French detective, as he’s engaged in a battle of wits with David Niven’s dapper jewel thief. The sequel makes the wise choice of thrusting Clouseau into the spotlight, and Sellers builds on the character’s trademark buffoonery.A Shot in the Darkis a hilarious murder mystery, with Clouseau fumbling his way through an Agatha Christie-style whodunnit at a luxurious country estate. It’s a brilliant deconstruction of the tropes of the mystery genre, and it remains arguably the best movie in the long-runningPink Pantherfranchise.
There isn’t much to separate the first twoShrekmovies in terms of quality, butShrek 2edges it in terms of the Rotten Tomatoes score.While it lacks the hilarious Lord Farquaad, it replaces him with the equally compelling villain combo of the Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming.The other major addition toShrek 2is Puss in Boots, who manages to shake up the dynamic between Shrek and Donkey without ever feeling unwelcome. The franchise struggled to keep the quality high in the next two movies, but theupcomingShrek 5could be a return to form after so many years away.
Top Gun: Maverick’s immense critical success is something of an outlier in the movie industry. It’s rare for a sequel to improve on the original so dramatically, and it’s especially rare for a legacy sequel to do so. Most legacy sequels are content to pay fan service and play the fan hits, butMaverickreinvents the entire foundation ofTop Gun.The aerial scenes, just like in the first movie, are utterly breathtaking, butMavericksets itself apart by developing a story at ground-level that’s just as interesting. The younger additions to the cast mean thatTop Guncould have a viable future as a franchise.
The firstJohn Wickshook up the action genre with its punchy fight scenes and its immersive worldbuilding, but it was only ever meant to be a standalone movie.John Wick: Chapter 2is the movie that gave rise to the expansive franchise that has since come to fruition.It adds more of the same exciting action scenes, but its bigger budget also means that Chad Stahelski can let his ambitions fly. What’s also important is thatJohn Wick: Chapter 2sets up the future of the franchise with an excruciating cliffhanger ending. TheJohn Wickfranchise’s futurelooks bright, but it all goes back to the moment when John is declared excommunicado, and the assassins of New York City turn their attention toward him.
Scream 2’s higher Rotten Tomatoes score could be surprising to fans of the franchise, since the original is often regarded as the best. It’s possible that critics at the time didn’t quite know what to make ofScream,since its horror satire might not have connected with those unfamiliar with the tropes of slasher movies.Scream 2is still a great sequel, as it builds onScream’s meta commentary while providing another thrilling murder mystery. It also continues the franchise tradition of starting the movie off with a shocking kill to set the tone.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stoneis a great origin story for Harry, as he takes his first steps into the world of witchcraft and wizardry, and he has his first encounter with the darkness that lurks there.The Chamber of Secretsis just as funny, intriguing and exciting, as its Rotten Tomatoes score reflects.Harry’s second year at Hogwarts sees him trying to uncover another dangerous mystery, but there is still time for quidditch and some whimsical classroom scenes. The ability to balance the main plot with some fun worldbuilding is what makes the earlyHarry Pottermovies so enjoyable.
