10 Film Sequels That Had been Carbon Copies of the Unique

There’s nothing that Hollywood loves greater than sequels, as a majority of the very best grossing movies of all-time are related to some type of pre-existing franchise. There may be all the time room for sequels to enhance upon their predecessors and succeed on their very own deserves; beloved sequels like The Godfather: Half II and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King have been met with unanimous reward, and each won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Sadly, there are lots of cases through which sequels do nothing greater than repeat what their predecessor did. Whereas it is extremely unusual for filmmakers to try to make a bad movie, it does get very irritating for cinephiles when it looks as if studios haven’t any motivation for making a sequel aside from to become profitable. Listed below are ten film sequels that have been carbon copies of the unique.

10 ‘Die Laborious 2: Die More durable’ (1990)

Directed by Renny Harlin

Die Hard 2: Die Harder had the tough job of residing as much as the success of the unique Die Laborious, which had been immediately hailed as one of the greatest action films of all-time. Whereas audiences have been clearly occupied with seeing Bruce Willis return to play the function of John McClane, Die Laborious 2: Die More durable merely took the primary movie’s premise and set it on a aircraft throughout Christmas.

Die Laborious 2: Die More durable wasn’t even the most effective movie with the “ Die Laborious on a aircraft” premise, as each Air Power One and Con Air did the identical story in a way more entertaining approach. Though Die Laborious 2: Die More durable was hardly the worst installment within the franchise, twentieth Century Fox fortunately wisened up with the third installment, Die Laborious With a Vengeance, which basically turned the sequence right into a buddy cop journey co-starring Samuel L. Jackson.

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9 ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ (2018)

Directed by Rob Marshall

Mary Poppins Returns was the lengthy anticipated try at revitalizing one in all Disney’s most beloved live-action titles, with Emily Blunt taking up the function that had gained Julie Andrews the Academy Award for Finest Actress. Though it’s technically a sequel, as Mary Poppins is returning to assist the older model of Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw), the storyline is just about similar to the primary movie.

Blunt performs some very impressive stunts and nails her efficiency, however there isn’t something in Mary Poppins Returns that the unique movie didn’t do higher. The usage of animated segments was significantly odd; whereas the approach of mixing stay motion and animation was groundbreaking when the unique movie was launched, it felt very out-of-touch when the sequel was launched a number of many years later. A enjoyable cameo by Dick Van Dyke wasn’t sufficient to make Mary Poppins Returns really feel distinct in its personal proper.

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8 ‘Jurassic World’ (2015)

Directed by Colin Trevorrow

Jurassic World was technically the fourth movie within the Jurassic Park franchise, but it surely was the primary installment because the unique to happen when the park itself was truly operational. Whereas the idea itself was intriguing, Jurassic World fails to acknowledge that all the characters who’re working the brand new park ought to have already discovered their lesson by now.

The poor writing is really evident in Jurassic World, because the movie constantly tries to remake moments from the primary movie (such because the reveal of the T-Rex) with out constructing as much as them correctly. The poor characterization can also be an actual situation, as Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard haven’t any chemistry when in comparison with how glorious Sam Neill and Laura Dern have been collectively within the unique movie from 1993. Though Colin Trevorrow tried to make use of the enduring John Williams rating once more, it had not one of the identical magic.

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7 ‘Friday the thirteenth: Half II’ (1981)

Directed by Steve Miner

Friday the thirteenth: Half II truly delivered on the premise that was promised by the primary Friday the thirteenth, because it lastly confirmed Jason Voorhees being the killer at Camp Crystal Lake. Though the primary movie had a surprising plot twist that exposed that Jason’s mom was the true killer, the second installment set Jason up as the principle villain for what would grow to be one of many longest working franchises within the historical past of the horror style.

Friday the thirteenth: Half II is definitely extra entertaining than the primary movie, because it ditches most of the lengthy, cliche-ridden moments of exposition in favor of some extra inventive kills. Though the characters are largely spinoff, Friday the thirteenth: Half II does nail the dark coming-of-age aspect of the franchise that has helped to distinguish it from Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Road.

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6 ‘House Alone 2: Misplaced in New York’ (1993)

Directed by Christopher Columbus

House Alone 2: Misplaced in New York defied the logic of the primary movie, because the decision that Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) finds with his dysfunctional family on the finish of the unique House Alone is just about ignored after they depart him behind as soon as extra. Regardless of the choice to set the movie within the Huge Apple, House Alone 2: Misplaced in New York performs on the identical jokes about Kevin having to outwit the Moist Bandits as his dad and mom attempt to seek for him.

Even when it referred to as for a big suspension of disbelief, House Alone 2: Misplaced in New York remains to be a Christmas traditional in its personal proper, as Culkin as soon as once more offers a really charismatic efficiency. It was clearly Culkin’s work that made the franchise so particular, as the following sequels that recast Kevin with completely different actors as Kevin have been disregarded as being full failures.

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5 ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ (2016)

Directed by Roland Emmerich

Independence Day: Resurgence is a sequel that felt twenty years too late, as Roland Emmerich tried to use the logic of a Nineties catastrophe film to modern-day. Though Jeff Golblum and Invoice Pullman did return to reprise their roles from the primary movie, Independence Day: Resurgence tried to get audiences invested in a brand new technology of younger heroes performed by Maika Monroe, Jessie T. Usher, and Liam Hemsworth.

Though it could have found a second life on streaming, Independence Day: Resurgence is a joyless slog that lacks the whimsical sense of journey that had solidified its predecessor as a science fiction traditional. Emmerich has definitely had a combined observe report within the years since Independence Day, however the full failure of Independence Day: Resurgence with each critics and audiences recommended that any success that the primary movie had was kind of a fluke.

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4 ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ (2009)

Directed by Michael Bay

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was eviscerated by critics like Roger Ebert, who felt that the movie lacked any of the appeal that that they had appreciated within the unique Transformers from 2007. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen explored the invention of one other “Macguffin” that each the Autobots and Decepticons have been combating over, which for some purpose required Sam Witwicky (Shia Labeouf) to as soon as once more staff up with Bumblebee and Optimus Prime.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen introduced again Megatron as soon as once more out of laziness, but in addition inserted a number of crass humor that merely felt misplaced. Whereas the primary Transformers movie had a couple of jokes that felt like they might have crossed the road of fine style, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen felt prefer it was intentionally attempting to offend its viewers with racially insensitive humor and characters.

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3 ‘Escape from L.A.’ (1997)

Directed by John Carpenter

Escape from L.A. is the one sequel to a John Carpenter movie that he truly directed, as he was by no means concerned within the sequels to Halloween or The Factor. Though Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) had narrowly survived the occasions of Escape From New York, the sequel discovered him as soon as once more working for the President of america on a secret mission, which this time despatched him to the criminally overrun “Metropolis of Angels.”

Whereas it’s going to definitely not win any factors for originality, Escape from L.A. is actually pretty entertaining as a result of Carpenter is so proficient at worldbuilding and hinting at extra critical socio-political themes. Though for essentially the most half the plot factors from the primary movie are utterly reiterated, Escape from L.A. does embody a really surprising ending that just about dominated out the opportunity of a 3rd installments ever present.

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2 ‘Crank 2: Excessive Voltage’ (2009)

Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor

Crank 2: Excessive Voltage needed to high the ridiculous mayhem of the primary Crank movie, which was heralded as an instantaneous cult traditional for its over-the-top motion and darkly comedic sensibilities. Whereas the story as soon as once more sees Jason Statham’s Chev Chelios attempting to cease the bomb strapped to his chest from detonating by attempting to maintain his coronary heart fee up, the sequel will get to be even wilder, with an ending that ranks among the weirdest moments within the historical past of motion cinema.

The Crank franchise has remained thrilling due to its capability to escalate, and Crank 2: Excessive Voltage definitely takes the whole lot that followers appreciated concerning the first movie and amplifies it to the intense. Whereas there’s definitely room for a 3rd installment within the sequence to select up with Chev on one other journey, it must work very laborious to enhance upon the second movie.

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1 ‘Desperado’ (1995)

Directed by Robert Rodriguez

Desperado served as a unfastened remake of Robert Rodriquez’s debut characteristic El Mariachi, with Antonio Banderas taking up the function of a mysterious gunslinger who fights infamous gangsters. Though it’s a pretty simple reboot of the primary movie, Desperado is taken into account to be the second entry in Rodrguez’s “Mexico Trilogy,” which concluded with As soon as Upon A Time In Mexico in 2003.

There’s not a lot originality in Desperado, however Rodriguez definitely nailed the motion, with some harmful stunt scenes that cut corners when it came to safety.Desperado succeeded by that includes a number of the cheeky humor that had been ignored of El Mariachi, and definitely helped introduce Banderas because the motion star of a brand new technology. Banderas would return to play related swashbuckling heroes to the one which he performed in Desperado within the Masks of Zorro and Puss in Boots franchises.

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