10 Movie Franchises That Never Got Better Than The First Film

5. Men In Black

The Franchise: Men In Black is a rather loose adaptation of the comic book of the same name, taking the premise and little else. Had it been more faithful, the series would have been entering solid R territory, with witnesses to alien activity killed and the titular unit trying to rule over the world, not protect it. What we got was a sci-fi comedy starring a Will Smith straight off Fresh Prince showing off all his acting skill, ranging from Will Smith to Will Smith. It's all a bit of fun riffing on the notion the government's hiding extra-terrestrial life from us. Why The First Was Best: The first Men In Black is the only one you could even describe as a good film. The second was a narrative retread (with boobs) that thoughtlessly undid all the development from the original, while the third entered production without a script and boy did it show. It's the usual case of something working well (in this case the relationship between cool Agent J and uptight Agent K) and a studio being wary of mixing it up. Even when the third film went back in time, Josh Brolin's younger K was the exact same curmudgeon he is forty years in the future. The first film was the only one that showed real inventiveness.