What is the worst movie sequel of all time?

ONLINE POLL: They’re the stinkers that followed a smash-hit success. So tell us what you think is the worst movie sequel of all time.

IT’S a common pattern in Hollywood movies. You have a smash-hit success and natural inclination is to follow that up with a sequel.

But, as these movies prove, making a sequel as good as the first hit is not an easy task.

All too often, muddled plots, mixed-up characters and inadequate story arcs combine to make us want to hurl our popcorn at the screen.

So what is the worst sequel of all time? Here’s 10 absolute stinkers. Give us your vote — and let us know if we missed any out, or if you thought one of these was actually a winner.

ALIEN 3

The original Alien was a brilliant horror-thriller, while its sequel Aliens was one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. Then Alien 3 sprayed corrosive acid all over the legacy of the first two by serving up a load of tripe. Between the Alien “raping” Ripley to her weird haircut and then the ridiculous ending, it was horrific for all the wrong reasons. As far as I am concerned, Ripley, Newt and Hicks flew back to Earth and lived happily ever after and Alien 3 was just a bad dream.

In Alien 3, everyone can hear you scream.

Cars 2 was a road to nowhere.

CARS 2

Pixar has produced so many brilliant children’s movies, it’s still hard to believe this one was such a crock. Where do we start? The original was a thought-provoking piece that had much to say about valuing love and friendship over winning and success. The sequel tried to add a James Bond-style plot to a tale about a dimwitted tow truck. And its “environmental” message was ridiculous.

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD

The Die Hard series only seemed to be getting better after Die Hard 4.0 used John McClane’s daughter as a major protagonist. So, for this one, they decided to trot out the son and enlisted Australia’s Jai Courtney to play the role. It looked like a winner — on paper. On screen it was a muddled extravaganza of explosions that took a classically American hero into Russia and blew up its chances of success.

Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney and Sebastian Koch. Just shoot us now.

THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR

A sequel that nobody was crying out for, this follow-up to a retelling of the Snow White legend dumped Kristen Stewart (a good idea) to put Chris Hemsworth front and centre (a better idea). It was bad in three major areas — the beginning, the middle and the end. Even this star-studded cast couldn’t save the muddled plot and frantic rewriting of the rules from the first movie. Even British comedians Nick Frost and Rob Brydon couldn’t save it as a couple of dwarfs.

Nick Frost, Chris Hemsworth and Rob Brydon. I could describe the significance of this scene but it’s so silly that even spellcheck rejected it.

MATRIX RELOADED

After the sheer brilliance of The Matrix, we were expecting a thrilling tale of how Neo and his friends were going to free the other humans and end the dominance of the machines. Instead we got this garbled mess that set up the even more disappointing finale. There were plenty of great effects but none of the great plot.

The plot of Matrix Reloaded was as threadbare as the jumper Keanu Reeves is wearing.

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

Another example of trying to cash in on a great idea and failing miserably. The first movie was about monsters trying to harness the power of human screams to run their city. The second movie just made us scream. It was laden with every education movie cliche they could dig up and missed the one essential ingredient that usually sets apart Pixar films — a heart.

Call me one-eyed but I thought this sequel was pointless.

PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS

For those who don’t know Percy Jackson, he’s kind of an American Harry Potter. His battles to save the world go through several book series and they are all wonderfully entertaining. The first movie in the series, The Lightning Thief, was not bad.

The heroes discover the ending is about to drown any hopes of a third movie in Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters.

The second, however, did what an assortment of hideous monsters and demigods had failed to do in the books — kill Percy Jackson. Crippled by a lack of budget, it actually started well but then got lost in a hideous vortex of pointlessness and crappy special effects.

PREDATOR 2

The first movie was another 1980s classic, where poor acting and bad dialogue were mad up for by great effects and thrilling adventure in the jungle. So the sequel decided to take the idea of man versus alien, stripped back to nothing in the jungle — and set it in the city. What were Danny Glover and Gary Busey thinking when they signed up for this rubbish?

Poor Predator. Dragged into another ridiculous sequel.

This second movie needed to be put out of its misery.

CITY SLICKERS 2: LEGEND OF CURLY’S GOLD

What a great idea! The first movie was such a hit, let’s bring back Jack Palance as his own dead brother! Bully Crystal has only made a few mistakes in his glittering career — the plastic surgery is certainly one and is probably only topped by this outrageous cash-in on the success of the original. If the first movie saw Billy help birth a calf, this one saw him pull something quite different out of the back end of a beast.

SPEED 2: CRUISE CONTROL

The first movie was a wonderful romp, even if bits of it were as unbelievable as Keanu Reeves’s haircut.

This movie still of Sandra Bullock in Cruise Control looks entertaining. The movie wasn’t.

The second took the idea of an unstoppable bus — and put it on a cruise liner. Where to begin when describing the flaws of this stinker? The central plot idea floated like a cat turd in the Christmas punchbowl — and it got worse from there.

Originally published as What is the worst movie sequel of all time?