Worst sequels of all time? Not for me!
The funny thing about having Asperger's is that things that bother the average person fall right off my back, whereas things that the normal person doesn't even notice can get me into the biggest tizz! Today was one of the tizzy days.
Before I start, I should add that the big movie kiss can make or break the movie for me. It can be the best movie ever, but if the kiss is bad, forget it! I should also add that I'm not an "actress" kind of girl either. I follow very few actresses...so few in fact, I can narrow it down on both coasts...Sandra Bullock and Mandy Moore in the US and Dawn French and maybe Miranda Hart in the UK. That's it. Actors, on the other hand, are a plenty! I've sat through some pretty stupid movies for the sake of one particular actor (the remake of Fright Night anyone? Not even David Tennant could save that one!), but I just don't do that for actresses.
Enough prequel...in Yahoo news today, there was an article about the worst movie sequels of all time (I warned you I get bent out of shape over the stupidest stuff!). Their top choice was Speed 2: Cruise Control. Now, that happens to be one of my favorite movies. Ever. Sandra Bullock had WAY more chemistry with Jason Patric than she ever did with Keanu Reeves (The Lake House anyone? That end kiss was like watching a brother and sister kiss! UGH!). There were also several others on the list that bothered me as well. So I started to check out other lists and started to get even madder. Speed 2 made almost every single list and was the top of most of them. Even Sandra herself said it was horrible!
But some of the others on the list bothered me just as well and once I did eventually calm down, I got to thinking about movie sequels that were actually better than their originals (and a lot of these were on the crap lists).
First up, Pet Sematary 2...come on? Seriously? How in the world this one ever made the list I will never know! Sure, it was possibly Stephen King's best book, but the first Pet Sematary movie was HORRIBLE! The second one starred two of my favorite actors Anthony Edwards and Clancy Brown (OK, so my favorite actor list is so long, that's not a special honor, but still), and a very young Edward Furlong. It's one of the few movies I can't watch in the dark even to this day! Clancy Brown can seriously be freaky when he wants to be!
And speaking of movies not watchable in the dark, A New Nightmare, probably about 8 or 9 in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. This one totally bombed as well and ironically starred the same creepy little kid that played Gage in the original Pet Sematary movie. I love horror movies, but the only horror baddie that has ever "scared" me has been Freddy Krueger. As a kid I had tons of nightmares about him! The thought that he could cross over into the real world just pushed me over the edge, and that's exactly what this movie did, brought Freddy into the "real" lives of Heather Langencamp (the original Nancy) as well as Robert Eungland and Wes Craven himself! Brilliant!
Another Stakeout - sure, the original was good, but the second one was hilarious! Why would it make a bomb list? After the second one I was surprised there wasn't more! Sure, Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez have great chemistry together, but throwing Rosie O'Donnell in the mix just made it really work, and ironically enough, this one was very little about the romance and more about the comedy/action, but I didn't mind so much it was that good (but then again, Madeline Stowe is another actress that grates my nerves...talk about botox gone wrong!).
Another Cinderella Story...I don't even know the fight with this one...the first one sucked. The second was WAY better and I don't even like Selena Gomez (but Drew Seeley is a whole other story!). Yes, the second one was more of a musical type thing, but hey, Drew Seeley was the actual singing voice of Zac Efron in the first High School Musical (as well as did the High School Musical tour), so it's to be expected. And considering that I'm a Disney freak...of course I love High School Musical in all it's incarnations (and not afraid to admit it).
Jaws 3D (Jaws 2 also made the list, but I don't remember much about that one) - again, seriously? A young, hot Dennis Quaid? Nothing sucky about that! I really didn't care for the first one. I thought it was slow. Yes, the movie is dated, but I am of the 80's generation, so dated isn't a problem for me. And yes kiddies, 3D has been around for a long, long time!
Every single Batman movie past the Michael Keaton ones - yes, Michael Keaton IS Batman, but the other ones that Tim Burton did were just as good. Don't get me started on the new ones, but Batman and Robin (which was also top of a lot of the crap lists) was really really good! I'm not a Clooney fan, but he's my #2 Batman and Chris O'Donnell had me at Circle Of Friends (and if you haven't seen that movie, definitely check it out! A very young O'Donnell, Minnie Driver, Colin Firth, and Saffron Burrows, it's a great movie).
And finally, Grease 2. OK, so it's not better than the original, but one thing I can say is that when I'm flipping through channels, if the first one is on, I keep flipping, if the second one is on, I'll watch it every.single.time. I don't know why, but there must be something. Comparing the songs from the first to the second is almost ridiculous, but I know all the words to the second just as well as the first! And who didn't love Maxwell Caulfield and Adrian Zmed back in those days?
One that didn't bomb, but is definitely better than the first is Die Hard 3 - Die Hard With A Vengeance. Two did suck, but at the time I didn't think anybody could beat Alan Rickman, Jeremy Irons proved me wrong. And what about the chemistry between Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson? A "sidekick" was just what he needed!!
Have a think about it...what movie sequels do you like better if any? Do you even bother with sequels?
Up next, sequels that don't even come close to the original, but for now, soapbox dismount!
Before I start, I should add that the big movie kiss can make or break the movie for me. It can be the best movie ever, but if the kiss is bad, forget it! I should also add that I'm not an "actress" kind of girl either. I follow very few actresses...so few in fact, I can narrow it down on both coasts...Sandra Bullock and Mandy Moore in the US and Dawn French and maybe Miranda Hart in the UK. That's it. Actors, on the other hand, are a plenty! I've sat through some pretty stupid movies for the sake of one particular actor (the remake of Fright Night anyone? Not even David Tennant could save that one!), but I just don't do that for actresses.
Enough prequel...in Yahoo news today, there was an article about the worst movie sequels of all time (I warned you I get bent out of shape over the stupidest stuff!). Their top choice was Speed 2: Cruise Control. Now, that happens to be one of my favorite movies. Ever. Sandra Bullock had WAY more chemistry with Jason Patric than she ever did with Keanu Reeves (The Lake House anyone? That end kiss was like watching a brother and sister kiss! UGH!). There were also several others on the list that bothered me as well. So I started to check out other lists and started to get even madder. Speed 2 made almost every single list and was the top of most of them. Even Sandra herself said it was horrible!
But some of the others on the list bothered me just as well and once I did eventually calm down, I got to thinking about movie sequels that were actually better than their originals (and a lot of these were on the crap lists).
First up, Pet Sematary 2...come on? Seriously? How in the world this one ever made the list I will never know! Sure, it was possibly Stephen King's best book, but the first Pet Sematary movie was HORRIBLE! The second one starred two of my favorite actors Anthony Edwards and Clancy Brown (OK, so my favorite actor list is so long, that's not a special honor, but still), and a very young Edward Furlong. It's one of the few movies I can't watch in the dark even to this day! Clancy Brown can seriously be freaky when he wants to be!
And speaking of movies not watchable in the dark, A New Nightmare, probably about 8 or 9 in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. This one totally bombed as well and ironically starred the same creepy little kid that played Gage in the original Pet Sematary movie. I love horror movies, but the only horror baddie that has ever "scared" me has been Freddy Krueger. As a kid I had tons of nightmares about him! The thought that he could cross over into the real world just pushed me over the edge, and that's exactly what this movie did, brought Freddy into the "real" lives of Heather Langencamp (the original Nancy) as well as Robert Eungland and Wes Craven himself! Brilliant!
Another Stakeout - sure, the original was good, but the second one was hilarious! Why would it make a bomb list? After the second one I was surprised there wasn't more! Sure, Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez have great chemistry together, but throwing Rosie O'Donnell in the mix just made it really work, and ironically enough, this one was very little about the romance and more about the comedy/action, but I didn't mind so much it was that good (but then again, Madeline Stowe is another actress that grates my nerves...talk about botox gone wrong!).
Another Cinderella Story...I don't even know the fight with this one...the first one sucked. The second was WAY better and I don't even like Selena Gomez (but Drew Seeley is a whole other story!). Yes, the second one was more of a musical type thing, but hey, Drew Seeley was the actual singing voice of Zac Efron in the first High School Musical (as well as did the High School Musical tour), so it's to be expected. And considering that I'm a Disney freak...of course I love High School Musical in all it's incarnations (and not afraid to admit it).
Jaws 3D (Jaws 2 also made the list, but I don't remember much about that one) - again, seriously? A young, hot Dennis Quaid? Nothing sucky about that! I really didn't care for the first one. I thought it was slow. Yes, the movie is dated, but I am of the 80's generation, so dated isn't a problem for me. And yes kiddies, 3D has been around for a long, long time!
Every single Batman movie past the Michael Keaton ones - yes, Michael Keaton IS Batman, but the other ones that Tim Burton did were just as good. Don't get me started on the new ones, but Batman and Robin (which was also top of a lot of the crap lists) was really really good! I'm not a Clooney fan, but he's my #2 Batman and Chris O'Donnell had me at Circle Of Friends (and if you haven't seen that movie, definitely check it out! A very young O'Donnell, Minnie Driver, Colin Firth, and Saffron Burrows, it's a great movie).
And finally, Grease 2. OK, so it's not better than the original, but one thing I can say is that when I'm flipping through channels, if the first one is on, I keep flipping, if the second one is on, I'll watch it every.single.time. I don't know why, but there must be something. Comparing the songs from the first to the second is almost ridiculous, but I know all the words to the second just as well as the first! And who didn't love Maxwell Caulfield and Adrian Zmed back in those days?
One that didn't bomb, but is definitely better than the first is Die Hard 3 - Die Hard With A Vengeance. Two did suck, but at the time I didn't think anybody could beat Alan Rickman, Jeremy Irons proved me wrong. And what about the chemistry between Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson? A "sidekick" was just what he needed!!
Have a think about it...what movie sequels do you like better if any? Do you even bother with sequels?
Up next, sequels that don't even come close to the original, but for now, soapbox dismount!
Comments
Off hand I can't really think of any sequels I liked better than the originals, but I will keep at it and come back to you!
Ahhhh.... Fright Night..... I watched it for the same person you did. ;)