The trailer for Frozen 2 just came out and we're still on the fence about it.
The question is: does Frozen really need a sequel? To be honest, we don't think so. But this is Pixar and they do a pretty good job in handling their franchises (except for Cars 2 because that shouldn't have happened) so we're reserving our judgement until we've actually seen the film. But over the years, the movie industry has been plagued by sequels that were unnecessary and were created to capitalize on the earnings of the original movie. These types of sequels rarely capture the magic of the original and end up being a waste of money and time. Here are some examples of sequels that were made when they should have just left the original alone.
1. Cars 2 (2011)
Sequel to: Cars (2006)
We've already mentioned it so let's start with Cars 2. Cars was not a bad movie but it also wasn't Pixar's best. The fact that this got a sequel really blew our minds. We assume that it's all in the name of selling merchandise (Lighting McQueen stuff still sell like hotcakes from what we can observe) and that's rarely the driving force for any good sequel. To be fair, this is the only aberration in Pixar's extensive filmography (even Cars 3 was OK) but just the same, Cars 2 did not need to happen.
2. Dumb and Dumber To (2014)
Sequel to: Dumb and Dumber (1994)
The original Dumb and Dumber will remain one of the best buddy comedies ever. The pairing of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels works to perfection. While the plot is paper thin, it doesn't really matter as the goofiness of it all carries the movie from start to finish. Fast forward ten years and a sequel, Dumber and Dumber To, was released. While the first movie was stupid in a good way, this was just plain stupid. The magic was gone and it felt like it probably came a decade too late (or maybe should not have come at all).
3. The Karate Kid II (1986), The Karate Kid III (1989), The Next Karate Kid (1984)
Sequel to: The Karate Kid (1984)
When it comes to inspirational movies featuring sports, The Karate Kid is simply one of the best. It ended perfectly with Daniel, broken leg and all, assuming the now iconic Crane stance to beat the other kid from Cobra Kai and win the tournament championship. So we don't understand why it had to have three sequels, all of decreasing quality, culminating in a movie that earned only 9.8% of what the original did in the box office. Maybe we're being too harsh as even the last movie was not a completely bad film and Hilary Swank was actually pretty good. But that doesn't change the fact that having three sequels to Karate Kid was grossly unnecessary.
4. Son of the Mask (2005)
Sequel to: The Mask (1994)
C'mon. This movie is the poster child for sequels that should not have been made. The only funny things about this movie are 1. they thought about making a sequel to The Mask, and 2. they thought they could make it work without Jim Carrey. There's really not much to say about this move except that it's bad. If you're even remotely interested in watching this after reading this article, please don't.
5. Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
Sequel to: Speed (1994)
The original Speed was awesome. The idea was fresh and it was able to hold us captive for the entirety of its runtime. It did so well that the studio felt they needed to make this a franchise. They were wrong. Sandra Bullock should have taken Keanu Reeves' cue and left the franchise on a high note. If only director Jan de Bont made this into a stand-alone movie, the perception might have been different. But this movie was certainly not worthy of the Speed franchise tag. What makes this sadder is that after Speed, de Bont helmed Twister, one of the best disaster movies of all time. He could have made any other film after Speed and Twister and yet what we got was Speed 2.