10 Famous Characters Who Acted Totally Out Of Character In Sequels

10. Dr. Ian Malcolm €“ The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Apart from perhaps those large, angry scaly things, Ian Malcolm was the best thing about the original Jurassic Park. Giggling like a hipster at Alan Grant's paleontological earnestness, uttering snarky quips in the face of a Tyrannosaur's tyranny and just being an all-round funny guy to the end, Dr. Malcolm was there for us when things got a bit grim. He was also the surprise voice of reason when the sarcasm took a backseat to his own morality €“ describing Jurassic Park as 'the rape of the natural world' and bemoaning their exploitation of dinosaurs for speedy capitalistic gain. With all of these traits to hand, it was no surprise Ian Malcolm took centre stage for the film's inevitable sequel. Fans were delighted €“ surely having Jeff Goldblum in a starring role would mean more quips, more sarcasm and more raging against the machine? Well, no €“ not really. Something must have happened to Dr. Malcolm between leaving Isla Nublar and stepping foot on Isla Sornar to once again go toe-to-toe with the prehistoric beasts, because none of his cool, rockstar sparkle survived the transition to the sequel. What we were instead left with was a bitter, earnest and reticent miser, beaming negativity and caution at every turn and leaving the cool, funny stuff to Vince Vaughn's Nick Van Owen. Malcolm has essentially become the Alan Grant of this Jurassic outing. There are shades of the old Malcolm ("Where you're going is the only place on the planet where the geese chase you") but all in all this is a far different, and less enjoyable, character to the one who won us over the first time round. Let's hope he returns as his good old self in 2015's Jurassic World.
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26 year old novelist and film nerd from London. Currently working on his third novel and dreaming up more list-based film articles to flood WhatCulture with.