The Not So Secret Rule of Sequels

There is a lingering assumption that any movie with a "2" in the title is automatically put in second place. Can a sequel ever really live up to its original narrative? Feature films such as Titanic, Dirty Dancing, and JAWS are all household classics, reaching new heights of cinematic entertainment only to have a less accomplished younger sibling trailing behind them, begging to share in the financial rewards and critical accolades. They typically disappoint by recycling popular formulas and miscast famous roles confirming the status of a one-hit wonder, leaving a bad taste in audience’s mouths that can’t be blamed on stale popcorn.

JAWS 2 is a prime example of a cash-grab sequel that failed to replicate the first, directed by the King of Blockbusters, Spielberg. Does anyone honestly need to see another giant mechanical shark eating another town full of drunk teens? Beach holidays were ruined the first time around. The result was an underdeveloped and predictable narrative that passed as a lukewarm b-movie with no critical acclaim to its name - not quite so chilling. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights is another disaster produced by a greedy group of investors attempting to follow a loved classic. It is one of the worst sequels, which doesn’t even hide the fact it isn’t a sequel, to ever exist. They should have just kept Baby in the corner on this one.

When trying to replicate a classic, films usually fall short on the basis that the original was so successful that no amount of financially fuelled mise-en-scene or star-studded cast can ever live up to expectations. No film about a ship has ever come close to attaining what Leo and Kate created on that fatefully romantic journey, backlit by Celine Dion, let alone a sequel. The love did not go on. The special effects that made the first film so visually gripping, pulling audiences into the narrative that made you feel every creak of the ship, were painfully tragic in the sequel. Despite the cast being critically acclaimed, the result was a bizarre mix of disaster film cliché’s, not deliberate enough to be comical, swiftly plummeting the film to its watery doom.

Miscasting a famous role can also cause havoc on ‘rotten tomatoes’, plummeting their score purely based on the fact that John Travolta was no longer sporting the T-Birds jacket in Grease 2. The replacement Danny donned the leather and greased hair like a champ and Michelle Pfeiffer bravely took the place of internationally loved Olivia Newton-John. However, no matter the cast, it’s clear no one can replace the hopelessly devoted chemistry the original two had together, and that’s just a cinematic fact. The attempt created a messy teenage film sprinkled with a clearly middle-aged cast you’d rather switch off. Similarly, Mamma Mia Here We Go Again’s lack of Meryl and the tacky inclusion of Cher (controversial, I know, but she butchered Fernando) left a fragmented narrative that most people only went to see for the Young Bill boat scenes. Home Alone was entertaining until they threw a curve ball after number 2 and replaced the best part about the franchise - Macaulay Culkin. What was left for the next 4 films was an audience purely questioning how many times a child can be forgotten before it becomes concerning rather than entertaining.

After ripping sequels to shreds, I think I must acknowledge the rare masterpieces that have graced our screens as the so-called dreaded sequels. Godfather Part II. Need I say more? Godfather Part III, however, reveals itself more as the chocolate left in the quality street tin that no one wants but hangs around anyway because it completes the pack.

Franchises such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Fast and Furious just kept on spitting out more and more content that never failed to hit the spot. 9 full-length films released in succession about men racing in cars must be a new cinematic record. They prove that sequels don’t always have to be branded as tainting the beloved first as long as they are consistent and aware that they have to come to an end. Movie marathons thus become a staple with franchises such as these as one thing required for a marathon is content and preferably good content.

Comedy sequels have the difficult task of recreating but not repeating themselves. 22 Jump Street - bring on 23, 24, 25. I want to see them in culinary school. The jokes are fresh, the narrative plays with the first while giving a new angle and Jonah Hill finally gets the ‘popular kid’ status he deserves. Schmidt’s slam poem became iconic, creating an equal, if not better film, than 21. The secret here must be that the characters and plot were just too good not to write another hilariously entertaining story with and the film's success confirmed this.

The reality is that too often sequels are never as brilliant as the originals simply because we have high expectations for them. The one-liners, the character arcs and the iconic musical numbers all accumulate to make a top-quality film that usually cannot be replicated without being predictable. Lindsay Lohan’s fall from mean-girl popularity is the kind of thing we only need to see once. Mean Girls 2? So not fetch. They don’t even wear pink on Wednesdays.