10 Great Movie Stories Wasted On Terrible Sequels
We're looking at the Great Movie ideas that Sequels totally squandered.
Creating a sequel that proves to be innovative whilst maintaining the characteristics that made the original movie successful can be a tough task. One only has to look at The Hangover films for an example of this, the first sequel being criticised for being too similar to the original, the second criticised for changing the tone too much.
The films on this list actually manage to come up with stories that on paper, look extremely exciting. Be it through a major event that hits close to home for our protagonist, an action film with an interesting new twist, a villain facing a brand new threat or a comic book film loaded with big name characters, these movies simply looked too good to fail.
Unfortunately that's what each of these sequels did, with the failure to effectively implement a strong story leading to poor final products. While poor acting or actor choices play a significant part of all the entries failures here, it is the inability to nail the tone of what made the franchise successful in the first place that is the biggest issue.
So prepare to get excited then extremely let down, as we take a look at the great movie stories that resulted in dreadful sequels.
10. Axel Returns To Find Who Shot A Colleague - Beverly Hills Cop 2
1984's Beverly Hills Cop was a true groundbreaker, with Eddie Murphy playing the lead role in an action franchise as fast talking protagonist Axel Foley. Murphy's Detroit cop was one of the first African-American characters who were out and out heroes in a blockbuster film, rather than an anti-hero such as his role in 48 Hours.
The inevitable sequel for Beverly Hills Cop started off with a great premise, with Police captain Andrew Bogomil shot by femme fatale Karla Fry, with Axel Foley joining his old buddies Billy Rosewood and John Taggart to track down the shooter.
What makes this such a strong story is that Captain Bogomil was very much the antagonist for Axel in the first entry, rightfully doing his job is trying to placate the Detroit cop. Bogomil rose to the occasion by the film's climax though, putting his job on the line to help Axel out, a favour Mr. Foley had not forgotten.
While the story seemingly had the right mix of high stakes and the opportunity for more fun with Axel and friends, the film quickly becomes a bore. A plot involving robberies of racing tracks fails to ignite proceedings and the banter between Axel and his old friends just feels lazy. The character of police chief Lutz, who fulfils Bogomil's role of Police chief who can't stand Foley, is too incompetent and annoying to feel anything for.
When lead actor Eddie Murphy describes it as the "most successful mediocre film in history", you know something's gone awry.