A sequel to any film is dangerous territory for all involved. First off, in order for their to be a sequel, the original had to be successful in some kind of way. And with that success comes a fan base with high expectations for the next one. There are countless sequels squandered in countless ways. As the movie audience is well aware of, a follow-up to any movie is destined to disappoint us.
Even so, when you come across that rare sequel that’s better than its predecessor, it’s a miraculous feeling, a tingling in your body’s special spots. I immediately think of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, The Dark Knight, Toy Story 3, Mad Max: Fury Road and, most recently, Blade Runner 2049 and Thor: Ragnarok.
We’ve already had one great sequel this year (Paddington 2), and Maze Runner: The Death Cure rebounds from the second one, The Scorch Trials. But, for every good sequel, there are about 347 bad ones. And 2018 will undoubtedly have quite a few. As a matter of fact, I’ll tell ya about them!
PS: I’ll probably see more than half of these.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
(June 22nd)
A big-budget sequel to Jurassic World about an exploding volcano that could very well wipe out the dinos on the island. Really? I could’ve sworn I read a different synopsis last year that sounded way better than this. Unfortunately, when the trailer was released, it’s precisely that with Chris Pratt and company there to lend a helping hand. That’s never good news for a movie when its teaser is underwhelming. All of our hope now lies with the return of Jeff Goldblum.
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!
(July 20th)
Fans of ABBA, Meryl Streep, and the Broadway musical went nucking futs for Mamma Mia! A fun summer movie with a great cast and catchy tunes. What more could you ask for? Why another one of course! Except this time it’s a flashback to Streep’s character’s starting struggles of love while pregnant with her daughter. In another words, Streep probably isn’t in it much and having Cher drop in unexpectedly isn’t going to help matters. This is a sequel no one wanted, and while getting everyone back together is impressive, something tells me this reunion will be ruined.
The Strangers: Prey At Night
(March 9th)
Back in 2008, The Strangers scared the shit out of me for one reason and one reason only: it could really happen and probably has. Crazy people randomly choosing folks to stalk and murder is a nasty reality. A decade later with a new cast and premise, the terror continues. Actually, it’s the same premise except in a mobile home park instead of a house. What really hurts this sequel more than anything is timing. Think of all the horror movies over the past 10 years and tell me if this concept hasn’t been copied over and over and over. There’s not too much that scares moviegoers anymore.
Pacific Rim: Uprising
(March 23rd)
No one does creatures like Guillermo del Toro, and having them battle machines on an epic scale was a sight to see. Pacific Rim is more about spectacle than storytelling, and didn’t break box office numbers when it was released in 2013. Actually, it didn’t even make its budget back. This makes the sequel a little surprising, and now with del Toro out of the director’s chair and a brand new, lesser known cast, Uprising is appearing to be the scraps of its original creation. And, if it’s more of the same then it’s lowering a bar that wasn’t too high to begin with.
Fifty Shades Freed
(February 9th)
I’m not ashamed to tell all of you I saw Fifty Shades of Grey. It only took once to realize this shit should be out of theaters and only shown on Cinemax. So, when the first one is awful, then the rest are doomed.
Creed 2
(November 21st)
This pains me to even put this one on here. I am a huge fan of Ryan Coogler’s Creed, making it on my list of Best Movies of 2015. Michael B. Jordan is sensational and Sylvester Stallone gives his best performance in decades. However, with a switch up in directors and the story being about Apollo’s son squaring off against Ivan Drago’s son, this boxing match may be a bust. I’m rooting for this the hardest to prove me wrong. It can be done if Jordan and Stallone can carry the momentum from their first pairing, and director Steven Caple Jr. (The Land) can pick up where Coogler left off and capture lightning in a bottle once again.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
(July 13th)
Raise your hand if you just can’t get enough of those Transylvania movies. I see no hands, and if I did, I would flat-out ignore them any way. Animated movies are a dime a dozen now, and only a few display real creativity and intelligence. These movies with an animated vampire voiced by Adam Sandler is not one of them. This soon-to-be trilogy will hopefully end its torment after this one where Drac and his monster family go on a cruise. I literally lost interest while writing that.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
(November 2nd)
Do we really need another one of these? These damn things have been going for nearly twenty years, and their quality is all over the place. X-Men: First Class reinvigorated the franchise, but after X-Men: Apocalypse, can’t we just call it a day? Dark Phoenix has already been half-ass attempted and it did NOT go over well; yet, Simon Kinberg, in his first directorial feature, nabbed Jessica Chastain for a villainous role, which keeps our intrigue intact but barely hanging on.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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