10 Movie Sequels That Were Basically The Same Movie

The original Death Wish struck an undeniable chord with the moviegoing public, following architect Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) as he becomes a vigilante following the murder of his wife and sexual assault of his daughter.

This reactionary revenge fantasy went down a storm with audiences if not critics, though a sequel surprisingly took the better part of a decade to materialise, arriving eight years later in 1982.

Death Wish II is one of cinema's all-time most blatant sequel rehashes, in which a gang once again breaks into Kersey's home, this time killing his housekeeper and causing the death of his daughter, both of whom are also sexually assaulted, sending him on another roaring rampage of revenge.

Sure, there are minor differences, such as the setting shifting from New York to Los Angeles and Kersey targeting only the central gang rather than criminals en masse, but it's a pretty by-the-book retelling of what went down the first time.

Granted, the rest of the franchise trod a pretty familiar line, too - enough that being even a casual acquaintance of Paul Kersey made your life insurance skyrocket - but it was Death Wish II that set the woefully predictable standard they all followed.