The 25 Worst Movie Sequels of All Time

Just like its predecessors in the Fifty Shades trilogy, “Fifty Shades Freed” was a financial success but also critically panned. Critics have called the third and final installment of the series inept, tedious, and comical. Only 11% of critics and 37% of audiences gave the movie a positive rating. The movie continues to follow billionaire Chritsian Grey and his now wife Ana as they try to escape their past.

Most of the critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for “Look Who’s Talking Too” are negative. The film’s IMDb average rating is just 4.7 out of 10. The second movie in the Look Who’s Talking trilogy adds a new baby to the mix, having the now toddler Mikey engaging in a sibling rivalry with his little sister. The gimmick of a smart-mouthed infant sister, however, is not enough to save the comedy.

“Hot Tub Time Machine 2” grossed a total of about $14 million worldwide against a budget of $14 million. The first movie made more in its opening weekend alone. In the sequel, two men travel into the future to find the person who shoots their friend and prevent the crime from happening. Just 13% of critics and 26% of audiences had anything positive to say about the comedy. Some critics described it as terminally boring, stupid, and incompetent.

“Spy Kids: All the Time in the World” is the fourth and last installment of the Spy Kids franchise. Even though it was the least profitable of the four, the film was also the cheapest to make. The film is the only one of the series without the stars of the prequels, Antonio Banderas and Carla Cugino. In the last one, a retired spy (Jessica Alba) is called back into action and brings her step kids along to save the world. The movie is largely disliked because of its dull plot and unfunny humor, according to Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Consensus.

In the first movie of the franchise in 2007, Nicolas Cage plays stunt biker Johnny Blaze. He becomes Ghost Rider, a bounty hunter sent by the devil to find the souls of the damned, after he sells his soul to the devil. In the sequel, Blaze is asked by a priest to save a young boy Satan wants. According to Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Consensus, the sequel is “plain trash.” Expressing frustration with the creative result of the two Ghost Rider films, Cage has stated that he will no longer appear in the series.

“Exorcist: The Beginning” is one of the sequels on this list that technically serve as prequels in terms of the plot. The supernatural horror film is the fourth installment of The Exorcist franchise. The movie follows Father Lankester Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) when he first encounters demons in Kenya. The reviews for the movie were overwhelmingly negative — just 10% of critics and 27% of moviegoers gave it a positive rating. The film was also a financial flop, making almost $44 million worldwide on a $78 million budget.

“Zoolander” (2001) made both critics and fans laugh and it turned a big profit. Its sequel, “Zoolander 2” failed to do either of those things. Now-retired supermodels return to the fashion world in order to save the lives of pop stars. Only 22% of critics gave the sequel a positive rating. The audience score was even lower at just 20%. Some critics called “Zoolander 2” unfunny, slow paced, and soulless.

“Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo” checked off many of the boxes that critics note when disliking a movie — “raunchy, politically incorrect, and not particularly funny,” as the Critics Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes notes. The sequel to the “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo” scored 9% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, though it did better among audiences, with a score of 33%.

Considering the success of the Alien and Predator series , combining the two no doubt seemed like a great idea. However, “AVP – Alien Vs. Predator” (2004) was poorly received by critics, and its sequel, “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem” (2007) did even worse. Only 12% of critics delivered positive reviews, with some critics calling it mindless, a complete mess, and illogical.

Found footage horror flick “Paranormal Activity” (2007) was initially relatively well received by critics. By the time the sixth and last installment — “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” — was released, however, critics and fans alike had seen enough, giving it terrible reviews. Some have described the movie as a failure and a mess.

The original “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” (2009) raked in more than $146 million at the domestic box office on a $26 million budget. Kevin James returned to play the New Jersey mall security guard in the 2015 sequel that, despite still turning a profit and grossing nearly $72 million, only received positive reviews from 5% of the critics logged on Rotten Tomatoes. Many reviewers took issue with the movie’s over-reliance on fat jokes.

The eighth movie of the Friday the 13th franchise is the second lowest rated of the 12-flick series. Serial killer Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) comes back from the bottom of Crystal Lake only to terrorize a cruise ship with high school graduates from New York City. According to Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Consensus, the movie “nearly sinks the franchise.”

“Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday” is the ninth installment of the Friday the 13th horror franchise, which debuted in 1980 with “Friday the 13th.” Kane Hodder returns as serial killer Jason Voorhees committing another teen massacre. Critics and moviegoers alike largely panned the movie. Some critics even called it inconceivable, unwatchable, and aimless.

Despite boasting star power from the likes of Sharon Stone and Charlotte Rampling, this sequel to director Paul Verhoeven’s 1992 Hitchcockian thriller failed to win over many critics or moviegoers, impressing only 6% of the former and 26% of the latter. Critics described it as awful, bad, and ludicrous.

The original “Halloween” (1978) is a tense, economical slasher film that changed the horror genre forever. It currently has a 96% Freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The eighth film in the series, “Halloween: Resurrection” (2002), won over a mere 12% of critics, with TV Guide’s Maitland McDonagh accusing the movie director, Rick Rosenthal, of having “forgotten everything he ever knew about generating suspense.”

The fifth entry into the horror-spoof series is accused of being “juvenile even by Scary Movie standards,” according to Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Consensus. Only 4% of the 52 critics who reviewed it on the site and 38% of the 100,000+ moviegoers gave the movie a positive review. Regardless, the movie managed to gross $32 million at the domestic domestic box office when it was released, even more worldwide, against its reported $20 million budget.

“The Blair Witch Project” (1999), which is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, was a massive success upon its release and helped popularize the found footage horror subgenre. “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2” (2000), however, abandons this approach and is worse off for it, pleasing only 14% of critics and 18% of viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

Jean-Claude Van Damme returns for this sequel to “Universal Soldier” (1992) as a cyborg warrior tasked with going to war with a group of android killing machines. The original movie was poorly received. The sequel did even worse, both among critics and viewers. Only 5% of critics and 24% of audiences could get behind the movie, with the Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus blaming everything from “its generic story to its second rate action and subpar performances” for its failure.

“Dumb and Dumber” (1994) is a fan favorite, thanks in large part to the comedic performances of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. The sequel (though plot-wise it’s a prequel), “Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd” (2003) produced far fewer laughs and received a good review from only 10% of critics and 23% of viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie failed to recoup its $30 million production budget at the domestic box office.

The Batman franchise is hugely popular, and critics generally review its various films positively. Joel Schumacher’s “Batman & Robin” (1997) is a notable exception, receiving only positive reviews from 12% of the critics on Rotten Tomatoes. A slightly larger share of audience members liked it, at 16%. George Clooney, who stars as Batman, later told the Hollywood Reporter that he “wasn’t good in it” and “it wasn’t a good film.”

Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” (1975) has a near-perfect Freshness rating of 98% and is credited for revolutionizing the blockbuster movie system. The series’ third entry, “Jaws 3-D,” was liked by only 12% of critics, by contrast. Its scathing Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus describes the shark flick as “a cheese-soaked ocean thriller with no evident reason to exist.”

An exceptional 94% of critics reviewing the original “Superman” (1978) on Rotten Tomatoes liked it. The series’ fourth film, “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” (1987), won over just 11% of critics and 16% of viewers — despite actors Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman reprising their roles. The superhero would not be the subject of another major live action film until “Superman Returns” in 2006.

Compared to the sequel, the original “Mortal Kombat” (1995) film, inspired by the video game of the same name, was relatively well received thanks to its atmosphere and effects. However, only 2% of critics and a quarter of audience members on Rotten Tomatoes liked its sequel. The site’s Critics Consensus faults the “shallow characters, low budget special effects, and mindless fight scenes.”

Commentary-laden action flick “Robocop” (1987) pleased 90% of critics and 84% of audiences who reviewed it on Rotten Tomatoes. “RoboCop 3” (1993) managed to please just 6% of critics and 14% of viewers reviewing it. The sequel is accused of being brutally boring, illogical, and stupid.

Boasting the acting talent of Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, and Sandra Bullock, “Speed” (1995) has an exceptional 94% Freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Bullock is the only one who returned for the sequel flop, “Speed 2: Cruise Control” (1997), which was liked by only 4% of critics. The movie replaces the original’s speeding bus with a cruise ship that is similarly forced to maintain a high speed.