Joker: Folie à Deux and 4 More Disappointing Sequels to Beloved Cult Classics
Sometimes the story should just end with one movie.
Fans always want a continuation to their favorite stories, and studios want an influx of cash. The latest example is the sequel to Todd Phillips' Joker. Under pressure from studio bosses, Phillips took a dark thriller about a man broken by society's descent into madness and turned it into a boring love story that failed at every single one of its stated topics.
And while viewers have complained about the abundance of sequels and remakes in recent years, this process is far from new.
1. Basic Instinct 2, 2006
Only a few people know about the existence of a sequel to Basic Instinct – and this ignorance helps viewers sleep a lot better. Sharon Stone once again portrays the seductive and cold-blooded writer Catherine, who this time is drawn into a dangerous game with psychotherapist Michael.
The sequel had neither the tense nerve of Paul Verhoeven's masterpiece, nor the subtle psychological portrait of the character that Michael Douglas managed. In other words, director Michael Caton-Jones reduced Basic Instinct to banal sexualized vulgarity, and the film was rightly awarded four Golden Raspberries.
2. Speed 2: Cruise Control, 1997
In the sequel to the cult action movie Speed, Sandra Bullock's character Annie once again rescues a means of transportation – an ocean liner that has been hijacked by a lone terrorist named John. The man was terribly offended when he was fired from the cruise line, so he armed himself with a laptop computer that gave him complete control over the ship and hijacked it.
The director of the original movie, Jan de Bont, was desperate for money; there is no other way to explain his involvement in the project. Cruise Control repeated the main plot twists of its predecessor, which seemed odd considering that the action had been moved from a bus to a cruise ship.
As a bonus, there was ridiculous dialogue, mediocre action, and zero chemistry between the actors. As a result, Speed 2 failed at the box office, suffered from a barrage of criticism, and acquired the status of one of the worst sequels in history.
3. Joker: Folie à Deux, 2024
One of the most anticipated films of the year has been released worldwide – a sequel to the blockbuster that won the Venice Film Festival five years ago. Todd Phillips is back as director, Lady Gaga has joined Joaquin Phoenix, the crime drama has become a musical, but Arthur Fleck's life hasn't gotten any easier.
The movie looks unfinished and incomplete – as if Todd Phillips was afraid to go all the way. Even without a thorough investigation, it's easy to see that not all the scenes from the trailers made it into the final cut.
Fake shots are a common technique among big studios, but in the case of Folie à Deux it seems that both the plot and the expressiveness suffered during the editing process – even the cinematic violence required for an R rating looks almost vegetarian. And with it, Folie à Deux has abandoned the message that viewers are supposed to take away from the theater.
4. The Godfather: Part III, 1990
The Godfather: Part III concludes Francis Ford Coppola's crime saga about the Corleone clan and returns viewers to the story of Michael Corleone 20 years after the events of Part II.
Part III is rightly considered the worst part of the trilogy. Critics panned everything: Al Pacino's makeup, the complex story and especially the performance of Sofia Coppola, who got the role of Michael Corleone's daughter. Despite its box office success, the movie has gone down in history as an ambiguous finale to a great crime story and has repeatedly made it to the top of the worst sequels.
5. Halloween: Resurrection, 2002
Throughout its long history, Halloween has had its ups and downs. But the fatal collapse of Rick Rosenthal's Resurrection stands out as the worst thing to ever happen to the franchise.
Michael Myers stalks teenagers left in an abandoned house to film a reality show. Murders, chases, and the overall dramatic plot – everything in Resurrection is devoid of suspense and intrigue. Not surprisingly, after Resurrection, there were calls for a reboot of the franchise, which was already feeling unwell.