POLL: Most Disappointing Movie Sequel Ever? (Final Round!)

[Lorendiac]

Which Movie Sequel was the Biggest Disappointment? (http://www.internationalvoting.com/int3/ask.cgi?pid=34-376)


Thank you, everyone who offered nominations in the previous round! Over one hundred sequels were nominated at one time or another. I wasn't going to make you all read such a long list, so I tallied everything up on a spreadsheet and then deleted any film that only got one or two nominations. That reduced the list to a more manageable 25 entries for the Final Ballot.

Follow the link above and you'll see the Ballot. Remember, this time you only get to vote for one item, so think it over carefully before you commit yourself! :)

For those who are interested in knowing which nominees were pet peeves of the most people on the various comic book-related forums where I called for nominations, here are the candidates that were mentioned the most frequently:

1. Batman and Robin (18 nominations!)

2. (tie) Highlander 2 (13 nominations)
2. (tie) Superman III (13 nominations)

3. (tie) The Godfather, Part III (12 nominations)
3. (tie) The Phantom Menace (12 nominations)

Of course, these scores don't necessarily prove anything about how the Final Round will go, when each voter has to pick just one candidate as more disappointing than any of the others. We'll see what develops!

[Chiasm]

Of these I haven't seen any Godfather movie so I have to eliminate it. Superman III sucked compared to Superman II but it wasn't that bad. The Phantom Menace only sucked in comparison to the first three and because of Jar Jar - so it was very disappointing but not putrid. It was very apparent that Batman and Robin would suck before I even saw it so there was little disappointment there.

Which leaves Highlander 2 as my pick. I loved the first movie. Hell, I even named my son Connor because of Highlander. We were trying to think of names and while watching Highlander we chose Connor. Then comes the putrid 2nd movie. Everything that was good about the first movie was absent in the 2nd. And bringing back Sean Connery completely ruined his valiant death in the 1st one.

[Shellhead]

Highlander, for all the reasons that Chiasm mentioned. The one surprise twist was mildly interesting, but just not good enough to justify the overall crappiness and the wanton disregard for the themes of the original movie.

[The Humanist Hero]

The Phantom Menace, which I think is an awful film whether one compares it to the original trilogy or not.

[The Son of Arzonist]

Resident Evil : Apocalypse should be on that list. And I thought Termenator 3 was a pretty decent flick, but thats just my opinion.

[Lorendiac]

Okay, we've gotten over a hundred votes so far, on a Final Ballot with 25 candidates. Here's how it currently looks for the Top Five Places in this final round.

1. Batman and Robin: 25.0%

2. Highlander 2: 9.8%

3. The Matrix Revolutions: 8.9%

(tie) 4. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace 5.4%
(tie) 4. The Matrix Reloaded 5.4%

(tie) 5. Ocean's 12: 4.5%
(tie) 5. The Phantom Menace: 4.5%
(tie) 5. Terminator III: Rise of the Machines: 4.5%

Of course, I was only announcing this poll on boards with a heavy emphasis on comic book discussion, so that may have skewed the results in favor of Batman and Robin as a disaster that weighed heavily upon people's minds. If I'd been posting on, say, Star Wars discussion forums, I suspect we'd see The Phantom Menace do much "better" than only managing to be part of a three-way tie way down at fifth place.

(A note: I think Peter David once wrote that he attended an advance showing of the film "Batman and Robin" at DC's headquarters, and when Batman whipped out his trusty Bat-Visa Credit Card, PAD heard an anguished scream from another member of the audience sitting right behind him. He soon realized it was Denny O'Neil himself screaming. Understandably!)

The Matrix trilogy is the only series that managed to land two sequels in the Top Five Places where "Most Disappointing" is concerned. On the other hand, Arnold Schwarzenegger and George Clooney each have the honor of having placed twice on this list: Once in the movie that's currently in First Place, once apiece in other movies. Aside from those actors who were in both the second and third Matrix films, I don't think any other movie star had a significant role in more than one of the movies in the Top Five Places. (Tell me if I'm wrong!)

[SMKSPY]

I voted voted for Matrix revolutions because even though Batman and Robin was worse than Matrix, everyone knew going into B&R that it was going to be a really bad movie. The evidence was there with Batman Forever that the next sequel was just going to be horrible. However, with the Matrix, everything hinged on Revolutions. Reloaded was a decent movie, and they expanded on what the Matrix was, but Revolutions had the potential to be one of the greatest movie ever. It could have presented something that really made you question existence, but instead gave exactly what we did not want to happen...robots versus humans again.

[The Punished]

Gotta vote for Batman & Robin. Watched a bit of this crap early this morning on one of the cinemax channels. What was Arnold thinking when he signed on for this?

Teaching the cronies the "I'm Mr. Coldmeister" or however it goes...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHH!!!!

[Ontir]

Batman & Robin

You just knew - while watching it - that there was absolutely no coming back from this painful to watch, eveything AND the kitchen sink, campy as all get-out, un-funny yet jokey, yet not boring enough to put you to sleep craptacular! The bastardization of Batgirl, the glowing crystal nipples on the Gubernator - Ye Gods Man! What WERE you thinking?!?!?!?:evilangry

[marshal99]

Every crow sequel after the first one.

[Krichton]

The reason why anyone would find a sequel really disappointing is if they have really high expectations. I can't believe ppl had high expectations for Batman and Robin. That just defies logic.

[hoffmandu]

The reason why anyone would find a sequel really disappointing is if they have really high expectations. I can't believe ppl had high expectations for Batman and Robin. That just defies logic.

I agree with you there. B&R was gonna suck and we all knew it. But Highlander 2? Or Trinity? Nope, at the very least should have been more of the similiar stuff, yet they both strayed away from what made them a likable concept. The Matrix sequels.....meh, they weren't THAT bad, just not the best ever. I'd watch them both again, but not HL2....or Trinity (I shudder remembering scenes from both). Phanton Menace? What are you gonna do, Lucas never said he wasn't making a movie for 12 year olds.

[Mac Danny]

Highlander 2. Has to be. It's the only sequal on the list where the third movie in the fanchise didn't even acknowledge it's existance.

[Magneto_X]

Resident Evil : Apocalypse should be on that list. And I thought Termenator 3 was a pretty decent flick, but thats just my opinion.

I disagree. It was enjoyable as a guilty pleasure. Sienna Guillory saved it, IMHO.

[hoffmandu]

I disagree. It was enjoyable as a guilty pleasure. Sienna Guillory saved it, IMHO.

Another, more accurate way to say that is, her ability to grow giant breasts saved the movie.

[Nate Grey]

I had to vote Alien 3. While I agree that the other contenders were bad (though I thought T3 wasn't THAT bad, just not as good as part 2), Alien 3 didn't even seem to try and was just unrelentenly depressing.

Basically, with the others, I could say, "Okay, I see why you thought THAT direction was a good idea, you [the director and/or writer] just brought it to an odd/horrible/confusing/nosensicle realization." I can't say that with Alien 3. I can at least watch the others (even Blade 3) and either laugh at it or lament on what could have been. Can't do that with Alien 3, either.

Eh. Just the way I looked at it.

[Ontir]

I knew "B&R" was in trouble - even before seeing pictures of Schwartzenegger - when I heard they'd hired Dennis Miller (and this was back when he was funny AND a comedian) to punch up the jokes. If it's loaded with jokes, and it's Batman, it's gonna suck. I was still not expecting it to be the film that slit the throat of the franchise. Going in, I figured it wouldn't be great, and TPTB would bring in a different director the next time around.

[Cephus]

I had to go with Phantom Menace, even though Batman and Robin was definately a worse movie, PM was much more disappointing. Who went into the theater thinking B&R was going to be good? But Lucas kept people waiting almost 20 years, the movie was hyped beyond belief, and fans of the original trilogy walked out going "I waited all that time for this crap?"

[nervmeister]

Blade 3. Total suckfest.