Great sequels that are the black sheep of their franchises

Sad Professor

I have been thinking about some of the sequels I love that are the black sheep of their respective franchises. Most major franchises have at least one film that is shunned because of something it did to piss fans or audiences off. Some of these films are better appreciated in retrospect while others remain divisive.

Here are some of my favourites:

The Temple of Doom: The violence and slapstick comedy mean this is still a divisive film to this day, but it was my favourite Indy film as a kid and I still love it just as much as Raiders. I genuinely find Capshaw hilarious, especially during the insect cave scene where Indy and Short-round are about to be crushed. What really makes it work is all the Gunga Din-esque camaraderie between the characters. The darkness and violence is extreme but nicely offsets all the humour.

Batman Returns: Usually disliked for being too dark and for taking too many liberties with the mythos. Despite finding this deeply disturbing as a child, I've always preferred it to the first Batman. The villains are truly frightening but what always made on impression on me was that the worst villain (Shrek) is also the most human in appearance. Burton really makes you sympathise with Catwoman and the Penguin but without pulling any punches about what they are. Favourite line: "You're just jealous because I'm a genuine freak and you have to wear a mask".

Back to the Future Part II: This was thrashed by many people at the time for its all over the place plotting and the lack of its predecessor's charm, but I absolutely love it for its bold inventiveness and time travel hijinks. It really embraces being the middle act of the trilogy and has fun with it.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service: I don't need to say why this is hated, but it has many fans and I'm one of them. Some of the best action sequences of the franchise. And the best Bond girl. And a brave and unforgettable ending.

What's your favourite black sheep sequel and why?

Ralf and Florian

Temple Of Doom kind of loses points for me because of that annoying kid and Indys constantly screaming female sidekick.

brevity

Jurassic world wasn't that bad I suppose

Stone Deaf 4evr

Terminator 3, that films not that bad at all, and has plenty of decent action sequences

Stone Deaf 4evr

Also, Thor : the dark world is also better than is generally acknowledged imo. It builds on the whole fantasy / sci element of the marvel universe, and when looked at in conjunction with guardians of the galaxy, maintains a consistent tone for that side of the franchise

Wedwood

Star Trek III The Search for Spock.

The movie that started the 'odd number bad' description of the Trek movies. It was disliked for years and has only recently been more widely regarded as one of the better Trek movies.

Rougies

In retrospect I appreciate Ghostbusters 3 because hopefully it will teach the industry to not try that type of thing again.

dark crystal

I really like Superman III. Christopher Reeve playing evil Superman really was something to behold.

Richard Pryor was a bonus.

Sad Professor

Wedwood wrote: »

Star Trek III The Search for Spock.

The movie that started the 'odd number bad' description of the Trek movies. It was disliked for years and has only recently been more widely regarded as one of the better Trek movies.

Yeah, I've always been a defender of this film. It's very well written. It totally earns both the destruction of the Enterprise and Spock's resurrection. Kirk collapsing on the bridge after his son is killed is one of my favourite moments in Star Trek.

pixelburp

I think Search for Spock is a solid film, but what worked against it was the double-punch of simply NOT being as phenomenal as its predecessor, Wrath of Khan (a legitimately great thriller regardless of genre), not to mention committing the cardinal sin of Sci-Fi in reversing death - which in turn negated the emotional impact of the aforementioned Wrath of Khan, arguably sealing its myth even further. Christopher Lloyd was a pretty insane yet inspired choice as the Klingon antagonist.

As for the topic, I have a lot of time for Alien 3, even if the consensus has it lumped it into a pile with the other post-Aliens sequels. Inferior yes, but as a standalone it's still a decent film. Incredibly downbeat & gothic so perhaps not an easy rewatch, but it's fascinating to watch David Fincher's first film, warts n' all, and still walk away entertained by a somewhat underrated entry in the franchise.

Sad Professor

pixelburp wrote: »

I think Search for Spock is a solid film, but what worked against it was the double-punch of simply NOT being as phenomenal as its predecessor, Wrath of Khan (a legitimately great thriller regardless of genre), not to mention committing the cardinal sin of Sci-Fi in reversing death - which in turn negated the emotional impact of the aforementioned Wrath of Khan, arguably sealing its myth even further. Christopher Lloyd was a pretty insane yet inspired choice as the Klingon antagonist.

As rule of thumb, I agree, but in terms of execution I think the film handles Spock's resurrection extremely well. There's no "magic blood" involved, it takes a whole movie to being him back and Kirk sacrifices his ship, his son, and his career to do it. And thematically it plays on and subverts WoK's theme of "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" in way that feels very Star Trek.

From a storytelling perspective, you still shouldn't bring characters back to life, but if you must it should come at considerable sacrifice, something which I think the film got right.

silverharp

Under Siege 2 was panned at the time but I liked it. more recently Independance day 2

Kenpo

I always loved Halloween 3.

I would imagine the fans were annoyed that Michael Myers didn't feature but an on-going anthology series by Carpenter each Halloween would have been amazing.

Harry Palmr

Carry On Screaming.....really.

Arne_Saknussem

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Terminator 3, that films not that bad at all, and has plenty of decent action sequences

Yeah it suffered from not being as good as, and from being a different film to, the first 2.

Would have made a good stand alone sci-fi flick, and is still better than all the Terminator films that have come after it.

tony1kenobi

I think Temple of Doom is a prequel.

Zeek12

Die Hard 2 - far better movie than it gets credit for (though admittedly can't match the original)

French Connection II: Very underrated. One of Gene Hackman's best ever performances...


+1 For Batman Returns OP.....always loved it!

david75

The Last Jedi.

Arghus

Batman Returns is my favourite Batman movie: it's just so kinky.

Rougies

Rougies wrote: »

In retrospect I appreciate Ghostbusters 3 because hopefully it will teach the industry to not try that type of thing again.

There was no Ghostbusters 3. Let's not put the mess we got with the previous two movies.

IncognitoMan

Another +1 for Batman Returns.

I'd love to have seen what Burton would have done with a 3rd, couldn't have ended up any worse than Batman Forever or Batman & Robin.

Dempsey

Definitely Batman Returns is one, panned by alot of people for the wrong reasons.

I'll be edgy and say John Wick 2

Ipso

I always enjoyed Predator 2, thought it was a good gast paced action film.

Optimalprimerib

Jurassic Park 3. It's good fun with a decent sense of humour throughout. It's probably the one I have watched the most of any of the jp sequels.

Predators. The one with Adrian Brody. I have a soft spot for groups of misfits getting picked off one by one and this fits the bill nicely.

Indiana Jones and the crystal skull. Not nearly as bad as people make out and the terrible scenes are at the room level of badness so they are hilarious.

Oafley Jones

IncognitoMan wrote: »

Another +1 for Batman Returns.

I'd love to have seen what Burton would have done with a 3rd, couldn't have ended up any worse than Batman Forever or Batman & Robin.

Burton never really had an idea (or interest) in how to use his title character. He’s completely sidelined in the sequel. It think it’s just as well he left.

I need to rewatch Ghostbusters 2. The ending is awful, but I’ve always felt it gets too much stick.

Acosta

2010

Wedwood

Moonraker

Was the highest grossing movie of 1979 and was well received and highly popular at the time. Was also the highest grossing Bond movie until the Brosnan years.

In recent years, Moonraker has unfairly suffered the wrath of modern critics because of its tongue in cheek tone, however, it's no more jokey than the likes of the current Marvel movies.

unit 1

I would add alien3 to the list, as its not as good as 1 and 2 but a cut above all else that follows and is novel in some ways.

sxt

Timothy Dalton movies were 25 years ahead of their time.