Content Warning: This article contains discussions of violence
When it comes to movies, it’s rare to find a sequel that measures up to the original, never mind a spin-off. From wizarding movies that failed to deliver on the magic of the original series, to comedies that completely misunderstood why the first movies were so great, spin-offs can often be disappointing.
As spin-offs are a departure from many of the things that made the originals so great, it can be a massive risk for studios. However, that’s not to say that they don’t work. There have also been plenty of occasions where several movies have been successful and come with high rewards. A few of them have even managed to achieve the seemingly impossible, which is to outdo their predecessors.
Better: Hob s & Shaw (2019)
The long-running Fast & Furious series has had its ups and downs, but one thing it did best in the later movies was to bring in major stars that helped turn the franchise into a fully-fledged action series. When Dwayne Johnson was introduced in Fast 5, it let the franchise breathe a little. And when Jason Statham joined the crew in Fast & Furious 7, the two stars surprisingly had great chemistry.
It was the best thing about the movie, and Hobbs & Shaw continues that relationship. Despite getting into countless altercations, whether it’s on the sunny beaches of Hawaii or behind bars in prison, it’s tough to tell if they are fighting or flirting.
Worse: Fantastic Beasts And The Crimes Of Grindelwald (2018)
In The Crimes of Grindelwald, the series became less about the Fantastic Beasts and more about linking the movies into the larger Harry Potter universe. Though the first movie in the new series was serviceable and had glimmers of magic that made Harry Potter so great, fans and critics didn’t enjoy the follow-up.
The movie was criticized for having too many plot twists and that it was overfilled exposition. However, with the third movie currently in production and the fourth and fifth movies are still expected to follow, hopefully fans will get a satisfying conclusion.
Better: The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)
Without a doubt, the real MVP of The LEGO Movie was Batman, as the movie paid homage to the character while, at the same time, poking fun at him. The film contains The LEGO Movie’s Bruce Wayne, except this one is completely unfiltered.
From mocking Bruce Wayne’s dark attitude to his relationships with Alfred and Robin, the movie doesn’t pull any punches. And it arguably tackles the Justice League in a much better way than the DC Extended Universe has too. It isn’t just a great LEGO movie, but a great Batman movie in its own right too.
Worse: This Is 40 (2012)
One of the best things about Knocked Up was Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie, (Leslie Mann) who were the complete opposite of Ben and Alison. On the face of it, their lives were completely ordinary, but it was hilariously explored in a couple of scenes in the movie.
But in This Is 40, the film expands those scenes into a full two-hour movie. Though it features some funny moments, the plot wears thin. Even the blooper reel is better than the actual movie, as it sees Rudd, Mann, Jason Segel, and even Megan Fox improvising and trying to make each other laugh.
Better: Machete (2010)
Machete is an interesting example of a spin-off, as it isn’t just a spin-off of one movie universe, but two. Machete is a character that was first seen in the Spy Kids series, but Machete was also a fake B-movie trailer that was presented in between Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse projects.
When it comes to the actual 2010 movie, it’s like a fun middle ground between the B-movie approach to Grindhouse and the silly, almost cartoon-like approach to Spy Kids. No director makes movies for themselves more than Rodriguez, and it’s no different here, as the amount of fun everyone was having when making it clearly translates on to the screen. The movie may defy all logic, but it’s insanely fun, and the sequel is even better, as it sees Machete go to space.
Worse: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) / The Wolverine (2013)
Depending on audiences’ connections to the series, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is either so bad it’s good (or it’s so bad that it makes fans angry). Origins infamously introduced Deadpool, but not as he’s known today. The character was extremely vanilla, and he had his mouth sewn shut (which made fans so upset).
A few years later, audiences flocked to see The Wolverine. This wasn’t as bad as its predecessor, but it was nowhere near as great as a Wolverine movie based in Japan should have been.
Better: Logan (2017)
Though it’s a surprise that the audience stuck with the Wolverine series at this point, as the first two movies were hated by audiences, it’s seemed to be a thrid-time-lucky situation.
Logan is the most darkly realistic comic-book movie, especially compared to the first two movies, and fans finally got to see what they wanted since X-Men in 2000 (which is the titular character slicing villains into pieces and wreaking havoc). And given that it’s an R-rated comic book movie that’s an extremely mature take on the character, fans have Logan to thank for the just as incredible Joker.
Worse: The Scorpion King
The Mummy franchise has had a rocky history, as the Brendan Fraser led movies dropped off with the terribly received Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and the Tom Cruise-led reboot was so bad that it ended the MonsterVerse before it even began.
However, wedged in between those two series is The Scorpion King, which is about a human-scorpion hybrid (Dwayne Johnson), who appeared at the end of The Mummy Returns. It features an infamously terrible origin story and shocking visual effects. If it wasn’t for the movie, Dwayne Johnson might have become a movie star years before he actually did.
Better: Rogue One (2016)
Given that it’s generally lumped in with the sequels and Disney’s Star Wars releases in general, Rogue One stands taller than all of them, and it’s the least polarizing and most loved of them all.
Thanks to the incredible hallway sequence showing Darth Vader actually being completely evil, and the final hour being an actual star war, Rogue One did a great job of giving the audience what they wanted while, at the same time, telling a fresh new story.
Worse: Evan Almighty (2007)
If there was anybody to continue the series a take the baton from Jim Carey, it was Steve Carell, as his small feature in Bruce Almighty was one of the most hilarious scenes. Unfortunately, Evan Almighty was almost an entirely different movie, with the tone a lot more serious and the pace a lot slower.
Where Bruce Almighty saw the titular character use his godlike powers to his advantage and get into all sorts of shenanigans in an original story, Evan Almighty was more of a literal retelling of Noah’s Ark.
