Today in film, the large majority of blockbusters that are coming out these days are sequels, prequels, spin-offs or reboots (I’ll refer to them all as ‘sequels’ for brevity’s sake), so I decided to catalogue a few of the different types of sequels we’ve all seen and we all will likely see again, just so we can identify the good, the bad, and the mind-numbingly awful types from each other. Blockbuster sequels are here for a reason, and sometimes people will continue the story, repeat it, expand on it, complete it, keep it going to make money, or sometimes, just keep the franchise going for no reason in particular. So without further ado, let’s jump in and look at this curious phenomenon of sequelitis that has infected Hollywood; for better or for worse.
1. The Continuation
Our first type of sequel is one of the most common; take the characters and/or setting, and keep going. This usually shows us what happens next. The Empire Strikes Back continued to show the Rebels’ struggles against the empire, Back to the Future: Part II showed what happened to Marty and Doc after Part I, and The Dark Knight fulfilled the promise made in the final moments of Batman Begins; showing us the Joker. The continuation rewards viewers for watching the first film by giving them new scenarios and adventures for our characters to have; the first film did the legwork of introducing everyone, the continuation can have more fun with it. We end up seeing a lot of these types of movies, but sadly, we often see so many of them that franchises will get run into the ground. To prevent that (and to provide proper closure), you’ll often have to make another kind of sequel. Enter out second category…
2. The Conclusion
They say all good things must come to an end, and when this is done right, it can produce wonderful results. Granted, this can sometimes miss the mark somewhat (like Back to the Future 3), be a bit of a mess (Spiderman 3, particularly this bit), provide solid and satisfying conclusions (The Dark Knight Rises, Return of the King, Return of the Jedi), or totally exceed expectations (Toy Story 3, aka. How to make a grown man cry). These films, while not particularly friendly to newer viewers, will ideally provide a balanced mix of excitement, closure and nostalgia, and are often heavily reliant on audiences being familiar with the characters and setting. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing (as our connection with familiar characters and settings will make us enjoy the film more), sometimes audiences will feel the need for a self-contained adventure with no baggage or continuity to keep track of. This is where our next category comes in.
3. The Episode
The Episode is a term I use to describe a sequel that provides no (or very little) over-arching story, doesn’t really expand on the world very much, but just provides another, self-contained adventure in the same universe with the same characters. I’m not bagging it or anything; movies like Die Hard 2, The Wolverine or Monsters University, despite being “unnecessary” additions to the franchise in the sense that their predecessors didn’t require their existence (unlike the cliffhanger endings of The Empire Strikes Back or the foreshadowing of the Joker in Batman Begins), are both very entertaining and definitely worth watching. Of course, the big problem is that when you’re making sequels to beloved classics, it’s hard for the next film to not seem stale; sequels are a fine art, and they often fall down when the filmmakers are clearly only in it for the money. Which brings me to…
4. The Obvious Cash-grab
Ahhh, the obvious cash-grab, my old friend. We’ve all seen this type of sequel, in one shape or another. This usually has some sort of reason to exist, as demand for merchandise or guaranteed box-office receipts demonstrate there’s some sort of interest in the film’s existence, but by the time the film is released, people often forget why they wanted it in the first place, because somewhere between pre-production and release, some jerk decided to make the film a glorified toy commercial. Many of these films will barely even have anyone who was involved in the original film in it; only 2 actors survived the 1989-1997 run of Batman films, and Bruce Willis seems to be the only constant in the Die Hard franchise, both in front of and behind the camera (although I haven’t double-checked that, feel free to correct me). Whether it’s the pun-laden travesty that is Batman and Robin, the phone-it-in, plot-muddled mess of X-Men 3 or the horrific, CGI-laden abominations we collectively refer to as the Star Wars prequels, the obvious cash-grab is notable for missing the mark and squandering potential. But what do we call films which have no potential whatsoever? Well, this brings me to my final type of sequel…
5. The DEAR LORD WHY DOES THIS EVEN EXIST?
Now, you could argue that this is a sub-category of obvious cash-grabs. You’re not exactly wrong there, but I really did feel that some films are so categorically bad on every conceivable that they belong in their own category, that they’re in a league of their own, that they’re so painfully terrible that they deserve a special level of hell. These films are mostly composed of Disney direct-to-video instalments and Land Before Time sequels, and are notable for not only being bad, but for having no reason to exist. These are not just bad because someone tried and failed. These are the films that were made for no sane reason whatsoever. But you may be saying “are they really that bad?” Well, to answer that, here are a few questions of my own to consider:
-When you watched The Land Before Time, did you think to yourself “I’d really like to watch another 12 (yes 12) films of these dinosaurs. Especially if they spend their entire time learning asinine life lessons”?
-Did you finish Pocahontas and go “I really want to see a sequel where she hooks up with another guy”?
– Did you watch The Fox and the Hound and say “I want to watch a mid-quel where the Fox and the Hound JOIN A COUNTRY BAND”???
Now, while I haven’t seen The Fox and the Hound, from my understating, it’s a dark and tragic tale; two childhood friends being placed at odds with each other because of society’s pre-determined roles for them. It’s one of the few Disney films not to have a happy ending; it’s very likely the most serious movie in the Walt Disney animated canon. Keeping this in mind, giving them a sequel where they join a country band makes about as much sense as making a sequel to The Diary of Anne Frank where Anne sneaks out of the attic at night to become a drag-racer (or worse, becoming a Belieber). I could go on about substandard and unnecessary Disney sequels for hours on end, but I think everyone’s time is better spent not reliving those travesties. Thankfully, with the closure of Universal Animation we won’t be seeing any more Land Before Time sequels, and the Disney Direct-to-Video sequels mercilessly ceased (by executive order from current Disney Animation and PIxar CEO John Lasseter) before they could get their hands on Pinocchio, Dumbo or Snow White, so here’s hoping that we won’t see any pointlessly bad Disney sequels, prequels or spinoffs in the near…
uh-oh
Completely Unnecessary 
the land before time sequels are fine. they cater to a different audience which is fair enough given that they were made more than 5 years later… as a child I found the first one scary and depressing but loved the lighter tone of the sequels. and too this day i still enjoy most of them except for 13 which is abysmal. some highlights include number 10 which actually expands the story in an interesting and meaningful way.
I probably should have clarified that not all of the sequels are shockingly awful like the rest of the films i call out by name. My big beefs with them are that (I feel) that a large proportion of them aren’t very good, and none of the sequels were made with Don Bluth’s involvement or consent. And shouldn’t catering to a different audience due to the passage of time look more like Toy Story 3 or Harry Potter, which grew up with the audience?
Anywa, I digress, you are right in that they’re not all uniformly bad or anything like that.