We'll kick off the Friday Five with a look at some sequels, and in my opinion the five worst.   I'm sorry for being a day late, but my work schedule just didn't allow for an update yesterday.  There are so many to choose from, it was sort of hard to narrow the list to five, but here's my best go at it.  Curious as to what made the cut? Hit the read more jump and find out!




#5) Speed 2: Cruise Control.

I wasn't a huge fan of Speed, but in 1994 it earned over 350 million dollars, so even though nearly everyone involved with the project saw it as a one shot story, Fox announced a sequel was in the works just a week after Speed opened, and they expected Bullock and Reeves to just jump right back in with no question.  Several ideas were tossed around for the script, but what was finally settled on was a script based on a recurring nightmare that the direct had about a cruise ship crashing onto an island.   Reeves refused to come back based on the script being absolutely terrible, and Jason Patrick was put in his place.  Saddled with a terrible story, no sense or feel of danger, no chemistry between the leads, and the worst prologue (with Tim Conway) that was tossed in so that Bullock's character could explain away Keanu's absence,  this film captured none of the magic of the original.  One interesting thing I've heard over the years is that the central story for Speed 2 was originally intended to be part of a Die Hard sequel, but that is just rumor.

#4) Weekend at Bernie's II.


Really? Talk about beating a dead horse.   In Weeked at Bernie's II we have the major cast intact at least, but what we get in return is a horrible story, not so great performances, voodoo, and blood of a virgin.  The only thing to really come from this film was the Bernie Dance (5 million views?!) Warning, there is adult language in the following video.



#3)The Sting II.






The Sting II makes the at number 2, mostly because of how I feel about it in relation to  The Sting, which is one of my all time favorite films.   No amount of money was bringing back Redford or Newman, although they broke the bank to bring back David S. Ward. as the writer. I love Jackie Gleason, but he is just simply bored in this film.  The characters are intended to be the same from the first, but somehow Hooker has a boxing background never mentioned in the first film.  I've heard this described away as "not a direct sequel, so there was retroactive continuity changes."  I'm not sure why this film was even made if nobody wanted to return in the first place. If you could get the original cast coming back, that's one thing. But to recast, change continuity, and try to present a film is a recipe for disaster

#2) Batman & Robin.


Ugh is about all I have to say. This is still the last film that I have walked out on (and yes, I have since watched the entire move, more than once trying to find  a way to make it better), and I love all things Batman. From nipples on the batsuit, to the hundreds of Mr. Freeze puns.  This film killed a franchise, and really killed comic book movies for a long time.  It's almost as if it were intentionally bad, as if it were meant to be totally camp, and sometimes I wonder if that is the actual case. That Shumacher purposefully made the film as bad as he could, for people to laugh.  Or maybe he wanted  to just kill off the franchise.  Or maybe a young Christopher Nolan and sent him a letter offing him riches in the furture, if he made the film as horrible as possible so that it could be fully rebooted in the future.  I've read articles where Marvel execs say that Batman and Robin was the most IMPORTANT comic movie ever made, because it demanded a new way of doing things.  Wonder how DC felt about that. It allowed Marvel to start creating adaptions of X-Men and Spiderman, that connected and respected the source material.  Here is a quote from the writer of Batman and Robin, Avika Goldsman. "What got lost in Batman & Robin is the emotions aren't real. The worst thing to do with a serious comic book is to make it a cartoon. I'm still answering for that movie with some people."



#1)  Caddyshack II.


in my Hangover 2 Review, I pretty much stated that they had tried to make the same move again.  At least in that film they had the same cast, and that was a large help to that film being a success.  Not so much the case in Caddyshack II.   Caddyshack was one of   my favorite films as a child.  I grew up with 3 TV stations plus PBS.  When Caddyshack was on, it was an event. Mom would make pizza, and it was one of the few times that we did anything as a family, and laughed and had a good time.  It holds a special place for me.    I was So exited when I saw a TV ad for Caddyshack II.  Then I saw Caddyshack II, talk about a total non event.

We get Jackie Mason (in Rodney Dangerfield's role) trying to get into a country club.  The snooty club leader Robert Stack (in the GREAT Ted Knight's role) blocks the attempt, and well, then you have Dan Akroyd (in Bill Murray's role) chasing around a gopher, while Chevy Chase (in Chevy Chase's role) splashed all over the place with jokes that just do not work.

Nearly making the list.  The Whole Ten Yards, Matrix films 2 and 3, Odd numbered Star Trek Films, Teen Wolf Too,  and The Next Karate Kid.   Also, Yes I know Highlander 2 is missing from the list, but that is a film that deserves an entire post to itself.    Also missing is Blues Brothers 2000, why is that?  Because it seems to be on EVERY list, and I happen to LOVE The Blues Brothers, it was another "event' movie at my home, I can remember watching it with dad over and over again, it turned me onto a style of music I may have otherwise not found such respect for, because I found it at such a young age.  Though the original film, I also turned other friends onto the Blues, and the Blues Brothers.  As for the sequel, no it's not the best movie ever, but it is this, its about the music.  And that's what a Blues Brothers movie should be about.  Maybe I'm too easy on it, but I find it to be a love letter from Dan Akroyd, to the music, and to his long lost friend John Belushi.  And hey, at least we got John Goodman, and NOT Jim Belushi.

And there you have my first Friday Five.  Day late and a dollar short, sort of like the films mentioned here.

Labels: Friday Five