5 Sequels to Iconic Movies That Got Destroyed by New Directors
The easiest way to ruin a successful franchise’s score is to give into another director’s hands — and this is exactly what happened with these five cult classics.
5. Jaws 2 (1978)
In 1975, Steven Spielberg took an incredibly tight budget, a motorboat, and a few enthusiastic actors, and created a miracle. His Jaws movie became a worldwide sensation and shaped the genre for years to come with its core principle: that what you don’t see terrifies you way more than what you can. It was phenomenal.
Merely three years later, there was the first attempt to copy Spielberg’s homework. Jaws 2 was directed by Jeannot Szwarc, instead, and it started the trend of increasingly worse Jaws sequels. His take on the movie (“There is another huge killer shark, guys!”) has a 5.8 IMDb score against the original’s solid 8.1.
4. Halloween II (1981)
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In 1978, John Carpenter released one of the most classic Halloween villains: the story of Michael Myers hit the screens. Bone-chilling and properly haunting, The Shape took over hearts and minds with his silent yet unstoppable bloodlust and mystical abilities that came into a weird but compelling clash with his trusty knife.
It was only logical to await sequels after the original Halloween’s success, but it wasn’t Carpenter who made the second movie; it was Rick Rosenthal. Compared with the later sequels that were just horrible, Halloween II was not a total bust but rather a boring copy that earned a 6.1 score on IMDb against the original’s 7.7
3. Batman Forever (1995)
One of the most classic superhero stories, the Dark Knight of Gotham City received its first truly dark live-action adaptation when Tim Burton took the wheel. In 1989, his Batman was released, featuring iconic performances from Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne and Jack Nicholson as Joker. But good things don’t tend to last, do they?
Six years later, Joel Schumacher took over the franchise and created Batman Forever. As TellTale Games pop-ups say, “Nobody liked that.” Batman Forever holds a 5.4 IMDb score against Tim Burton’s Batman’s 7.5 and is only not considered the worst Dark Knight movie thanks to the notorious Batman & Robin’s existence.
2. Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
Tom Cruise’s most iconic franchise, Mission: Impossible started in 1996 with Brian De Palma’s original movie that immediately established it on the market. Back then, Ethan Hunt was not as keen on risky stunts, and the movie was more of a spy thriller than an action film like the latest installments — but the audience loved it regardless.
At the beginning of the new millennium, the first sequel was released, created by John Woo. While it was certainly closer to the modern installments of Mission: Impossible in terms of action, it wasn’t quite right. To this day, Mission: Impossible 2 is called the worst franchise entry, dropping from the original’s 7.2 to 6.1 on IMDb.
1. Jurassic Park III (2001)
Another Steven Spielberg classic, the first Jurassic Park movie was released in 1993 and received wide praise, winning three Oscars and establishing a new franchise. This film popularized dinosaurs once again and once again showed the director’s unmatched genius. It was clear that new movies would follow soon, and they did.
Even the second movie, still directed by Spielberg, failed in comparison to the original; the third entry was taken over by Joe Johnston and was a complete bust. Jurassic Park III dropped over two whole points on IMDb — 5.9 against the original’s 8.2 score — and made one too many people wish the first movie was the last.