Hollywood seems to have taken a strong liking to the lesson, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
After decades spent collecting dust in old DVD and VHS collections, previously loved classics like “Beetlejuice,” “Gladiator,” and “Twister” were revived by studios with sequels fit for both their original audiences and a new generation of moviegoers.
But while these movies earned mid-tier ranking from critics (they all scored around 75% on Rotten Tomatoes), others like “Dune: Part Two” shone brightly — Hoai-Tran Bui wrote for Inverse that it was “in contention for the pantheon of greatest sequels ever.”
However, there were some disappointments, too. (Hello, “Joker: Folie à Deux.”)
While the internet can debate the value in reviving storylines with sequels, prequels, reboots, etc., Business Insider’s Palmer Haasch reported that “familiar IP is comforting to viewers — and risk-averse executives.”
In fact, all 10 of the highest-grossing films of the year are sequels, ranging from $397 million to nearly $1.7 billion in worldwide ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo.
As the year comes to a close, here’s a look at the 10 best and 10 worst sequels of the year so far, according to critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
All Rotten Tomatoes ratings were accurate as of November 26.
Let’s start with the worst sequels of the year. 10. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die”
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles as Detective Mike Lowrey and Detective Marcus Burnett, who are on a mission to clear the name of their late police captain Conrad Howard.
Matt Goldberg wrote for The Wrap, “The ‘Bad Boys’ series has never been about tight plotting or ingenious twists. It’s about throwing Lowrey and Burnett into chaotic situations and forcing them to wisecrack and shoot their way out. That’s it. Those are the movies. They’re a bizarre blend of soap opera, broad comedy, and bombastic action, and they should not work, but they do.”
9. “Force of Nature: The Dry 2”
The second film in “The Dry” series focuses on the disappearance of a woman, Alice Russell (Anna Torv), during a hiking retreat with four fellow employees. When they return without her, Detective Aaron Falk (Eric Bana) must figure out the truth of what happened to her.
We Live Entertainment’s Aaron Neuwirth gave the film a 6/10 rating, writing the story “ends up feeling too convoluted for its own good, with a less engaging structure and more like a push towards some inevitable moments that ultimately take away from the film’s urgency.”
However, he added that it’s still “decadent enough” to watch, and that he doesn’t mind seeing another iteration of this story in a few years.
8. “Descendants: The Rise of Red”
The “Descendants” series continued with its fifth iteration in July, as Ursula’s daughter Uma (China Anne McClain) — now in charge of Auradon Prep — invites the Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora) and her teenage daughter Red (Kylie Cantrall) to the school. But when the Queen of Hearts launches a coup against her high-school nemesis Cinderella (Brandy), each of their daughters, Chloe (Malia Baker) and Red, must team up to go back in time and stop the event that turned the Queen evil.
While the score only draws from seven critics’ reviews, Decider’s John Serba wrote that fans of the series will be used to its over-the-topness, “which exists very much within the Disney Channel formula of heavily processed visuals and forced pep,” and is “surely just good enough for all interested and engaged parties.”
7. “Despicable Me 4”
In the latest “Despicable Me” film, Gru (Steve Carell) must face his high-school rival, villain Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) and his girlfriend, Valentina (Sofía Vergara). But to keep the family safe — complete with their newest addition, Gru Jr. — everyone must relocate to a safe house.
Zaki Hasan, of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Datebook, wrote, “At this point, the ‘Despicable Me’ series (‘Minions’ too) is mostly about keeping the content flowing so Universal can continue selling backpacks and plush toys, so don’t be shocked if your child asks to return to theaters again in a few years. Talk about despicable.”
6. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire”
The Monsterverse franchise continues with “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” to see the iconic monsters team up against an even bigger threat to the world.
“This movie’s a mess,” wrote The Film Frenzy’s Matt Brunson.
“It’s noisy, punishing, soulless (it calculatingly kills off more civilians than even ‘Man of Steel’), needlessly convoluted, populated by nitwits and dullards, and choked with increasingly impersonal CGI,” he added.
5. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”
In the follow-up to the “Ghostbusters” revival, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” descendants of the late Egon Spengler team up with members of the original Ghostbusting crew — including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts — to save the world from a second Ice Age.
“Ultimately, there’s nothing in ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ that will win you over — no great action sequences, no laugh-out-loud jokes, and certainly nothing as inspired as ‘Ghostbusters II’s’ perfect metaphor of a malevolent ooze fed by the negative energy of New York City seeping into the sewers. The jokes are witless, the emotions artless, and the film joyless,” wrote Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri.
3 (tie). “Venom: The Last Dance”
Sure, Sony doesn’t have a perfect track record with superhero movies (see: “Morbius” and “Madame Web”), but the “Venom” series has been a surprise hit … until now. In the final film of the trilogy, Tom Hardy returns as Eddie Brock and Venom as the pair goes on the run from forces from both their worlds.
While The Hollywood Reporter’s Gayle Sequeira wrote that what works in this installments’ favor is “its incredibly earnest exploration of the characters’ personal stakes,” Observer’s Dylan Roth had a harsher take, writing, “True to form for this trilogy — which supposedly concludes here — the brainless and disjointed ‘Last Dance’ skates by on star Tom Hardy’s charm and a few good gags.”
“It’s a relentless marathon of mediocrity,” Roth added.
3 (tie). “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2”
After the lackluster reception of “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1,” Kevin Costner debuted the second chapter of his Western passion project during the Venice International Film Festival in September. Though the sequel was pulled from theaters ahead of its planned August debut, it’s already garnered enough reviews from critics to earn a 40% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Variety’s Jessica Kiang wrote that it “is an exercise in contradictions: incident-packed yet oddly sedate; replete with characters new and returning, yet largely lacking in compelling characterization; and, running to over three hours, simply too long a film to be so jarringly abrupt.”
2. “Joker: Folie à Deux”
The musical follow-up to 2019’s critically acclaimed “Joker,” did not live up to expectations despite the introduction of Lady Gaga’s Lee Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn.
“By any reasonable measure this is a terrible movie, too long and too self-serious and way too dramatically inert, a regrettable waste of its lead actors’ boundless commitment to even their most thinly written roles,” Dana Stevens wrote for Slate.
1. “Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver”
“Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver” was released in April, offering a quick follow-up for audiences who’d seen “Rebel Moon: Part One — A Child of Fire” in December 2023. The sequel picks back up with Kora (Sofia Boutella) and her group of ally warriors returning to the planet Veldt; there, they must train and defend its people from an impending attack while Kora comes to terms with her past.
David Fear wrote for Rolling Stone that “life is painfully short,” and advised readers to “turn away from your screens. Go for a walk. Start your own wheat-threshing collective. Anything but suffer through this.”
Now, the best sequels of the year: 9 (tie). “Alien: Romulus”
The seventh installment in the “Alien” series follows indentured space colony worker Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny) and a group of other young workers as they attempt to escape to another colony.
Jordan Hoffman wrote for Entertainment Weekly that the film “doesn’t try to reinvent anything and instead focuses on refining what works. It’s got the thrills, it’s got the creepy-crawlies, and it’s got just enough plot to make you care about the characters.”
9 (tie). “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” returns to Earth decades after Caesar’s reign to reveal that apes are now the dominant species, not humans. But as Caesar’s legacy is distorted by a new ruler, Proximus Caesar, who’s attacked and enslaved other clans in the pursuit of human technology, a young chimpanzee, Noa, and a woman must work together.
Ty Burr wrote for The Washington Post, “‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ is a sturdy new entry in the revived Planet of the Apes franchise, itself one of the more successful second go-rounds, commercially and artistically, of Hollywood’s modern corporate era.”
8. “The First Omen”
As the prequel to 1976’s “The Omen,” “The First Omen” centers on a young American nun, Margaret, who uncovers a conspiracy to birth the Antichrist while serving at a Catholic orphanage in Rome.
Alison Foreman wrote for IndieWire that the film “ticks all the boxes of a justified IP revisitation that arguably should get more chapters [because] it improves what came before it.”
Foreman added, “It’s also the rare prequel (sequel, requel, what have you) that fits seamlessly inside the existing franchise and makes tracks toward a chilling new future. In short, it births something new and genuinely scary. Remember when that wasn’t so rare?”
7. “Smile 2”
Beginning six days after the end of “Smile,” “Smile 2” focuses on pop star Skye Riley’s (Naomi Scott) battle with the Smile entity.
Though the AP’s Mark Kennedy concedes that director and screenwriter Parker Finn’s script “sometimes lags as he searches for an ending,” Finn found “a great satirical target, given life to a third film easily and showcased another rising star to watch. That’s a reason to, well, smile about.”
6. “A Quiet Place: Day One”
“A Quiet Place: Day One” serves as a prequel to the first two installments in John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” series by highlighting the first day of the alien invasion in New York City through the journeys of Samira “Sam” (Lupita Nyong’o) and Eric (Joseph Quinn).
“The third chapter of ‘A Quiet Place’ shows that this smart, reliably frightening series, which began with a modestly budgeted feature that performed way beyond expectations, is by no means tapped out,” David Rooney wrote for The Hollywood Reporter.
5. “Transformers One”
“Transformers” might be one of the most heavily mined IPs in Hollywood, but Paramount’s “Transformers One” manages to do something unique by telling the origin story of Orion Pax (Optimus Prime) and D-16’s (Megatron) friendship and inevitable hatred.
Carlos Aguilar of the LA Times wrote that writers Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari, and Eric Pearson created “a consistently humorous script brimming with witty banter and quips that mostly land.”
“Yet what grounds the story amid the pileup of sci-fi terms and lore is the convincingly intense bond that these male protagonists have nurtured,” Aguilar added. “There’s a gravitas to their relationship that makes the heartbreak of their eventual separation feel earned.”
3 (tie). “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
Another origin story that was well-received this year was “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” The prequel follows the story of Furiosa, portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy, from her kidnapping from the Green Place to her life as a skilled mechanic, driver, and warrior ready to take on her enemies.
Though NPR’s Justin Chang thought something in Furiosa’s “arc feels a bit too psychologically tidy to grip or disturb you in the way it’s supposed to,” the movie’s post-apocalyptic world is the true star.
“Even in the moments when the CGI looks a little obvious, the mayhem is staged and shot with the kind of blissful coherence that you rarely see in a Hollywood blockbuster anymore,” Chang said.
3 (tie). “Inside Out 2”
Audiences are thrust back into the mind of “Inside Out” protagonist Riley Andersen, who’s now 13, as her lovable cast of emotions, led by Amy Poehler’s Joy, deal with the introduction of new characters Anxiety, Envy, Ennui, and Embarrassment.
“What I loved most about ‘Inside Out 2,’ a movie that’s warmhearted and entertaining if not quite up to the revelatory standards of its predecessor, is its portrayal of Anxiety as not a villain but a character who believes herself to be a protector,” Dan Kois wrote for Slate.
2. “Dune: Part Two”
In the highly anticipated follow-up to 2021’s “Dune,” Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul Atreides as he lives and trains amongst the Fremen of Arrakis and decides whether to embrace his position as the Lisan al Gaib, or messiah.
“It’s a towering feat of sci-fi cinema that will put ‘Dune: Part Two’ in contention for the pantheon of greatest sequels ever,” Hoai-Tran Bui wrote for Inverse.
1. “Paddington in Peru”
Though “Paddington in Peru,” the third on-screen adventure for Paddington Bear, doesn’t premiere in US theaters until January 17, it’s already received positive reviews from those in the UK, where it was released on November 8.
The film follows Paddington and the Brown family as they go on an adventure through the jungles of Peru to search for his missing Aunt Lucy.
“This is confectionary cinema—sweet, light, and wanting little more than to make its audience smile,” Ross McIndoe wrote for Slant.
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