10 Movie Sequels That Bombed at the Box Office but Are Secretly Great
Not every sequel was needed: the movies that were created as obvious cash grabs trying to lure in people by using the imagery and characters they love use a very cheap tactic, and it doesn't work if the movie can't offer anything besides it.
These sequels, however, are good, but for some reason, the audience didn't think that at the time of their release.
It's simply harder to create a good sequel than a good standalone movie. With a standalone movie, you have no clear point of reference, nothing that your works will be directly compared to.
The sequel, however, will always be viewed through the lenses of those who adored the original movie, and any inconsistency, anything that feels slightly off, and everything that seemingly doesn't work would be mercilessly dissected.
Because of that, being simply entertaining is not enough for a sequel: it should differ from the original but not vastly; it should reference the topics that were used before but not be a simple copy; it should do something new but at the same time keep the old stuff that people loved, and that balance is fickle. And with the original looming over them, some sequels can't win.