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I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
The Sequel: Post Scream , I Know… felt pretty tired, but it was passable enough if the mood called for a trashy slasher. We weren't really too fussed about finding out what Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) did next though…
Why It's Terrible: Even if Scream and its sequel hadn't put out a cry for slashers everywhere to up their game, this sequel would seem lazy and pointless. It has drinking-game levels of cliche, as textbook jumps, knife-fodder best mates and common-sense-deprived villains abound.
What They Should Have Done: Turned it into a comedy, which it actually plays like, to be frank.
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)
The Sequel: Barely-related to its perennially popular forebear, Havana Nights transplants the basic plot of the first movie to revolution-era Cuba, as American girl Katey (Romola Garai) gets dance lessons and more from Diego Luna's wriggly Javier.
Why It's Terrible: It wasn't original written as a Dirty Dancing sequel, until the political edges of the story were blunted and a Patrick Swayze cameo was inserted. It lacks the chemistry that made the proper DD such an enduring hit.
What They Should Have Done: Forgotten about the commercial opportunity of calling this Dirty Dancing and stuck with the original script.
Men In Black II (2002)
The Sequel: Agent J (Will Smith) has to convince his memory-wiped mentor, Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) to resume his alien-monitoring work when an old threat returns to endanger the planet.
Why It's Terrible: The first movie established the super-cool agency, so by rights we should have been able to leap straight into some slick action. Instead we're left to yawn while we see K reintroduced to his line of work in order to battle a very similar antagonist to the first movie's. And in a bid for laughs, Frank the pug is shoved centre stage.
What They Should Have Done: Kept Linda Fiorentino on board as Smith's partner, giving them a whole new challenge to deal with, like a slow, sinister Body Snatchers style invasion.
The Return Of Jafar (1994)
The Sequel: The first of those awful straight-to-video cash-ins that were a lucrative money-spinner for Disney before John Lasseter put the brakes on them (although they're making a return with Cars spin-off Planes ).
Why It's Terrible: Because this was the first, we weren't aware of the intrinsically shoddy quality of these follow-ups. And if you don't have Robin Williams, it's just not the genie: fact. Childhood dreams: smashed!
What They Should Have Done: If they had a genuinely decent idea it would have been saved the DTV treatment like Toy Story 2 was.
Babe: Pig In The City (1998)
The Sequel: Babe was a uniquely charming family flick, lovingly rendered from Dick King Smith's quietly moving novel, The Sheep-Pig. It was even nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. No one was prepared for what came next.
Why It's Terrible: Possibly one of the most tonally-misjudged sequels ever, Pig In The City sees Babe head to mega-city mash-up Metropolis, and team up with various cosmopolitan animals to do... er, very little in fact. Where the original had nostalgic farms and subtle hints at darker themes, this version has a dog almost strangled to death, and a troupe of awkward-looking sidekicks. Director George Miller displayed the same split-personality with Happy Feet .
What They Should Have Done: Let the adult Babe star in a new version of Orwell's Animal Farm, which would probably be slightly less disturbing for kids.
Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
The Sequel: A future-set follow-up to Russell Mulcahy's bizarre original. In 2025, Highlander Connor MacLeod has helped invent an artificial ozone layer for the Earth, and that technology has now been commandeered for profit by the dastardly Shield Corporation, headed up by David Blake (John C McGinley).
Why It's Terrible: A sequel to a dodgy original has the opportunity to clean things up, and use established characters in a more satisfying context. This oddity just complicates things further, frequently contradicting its predecessor in a derivative future setting.
What They Should Have Done: Headed back to the 16th century for a fully medieval prequel, which could have established a consistent mythology once and for all.
xXx 2: The Next Level (2005)
The Sequel: Going by the unthrilling subtitle State Of The Union in the US, this was a tenuous follow-up to Vin Diesel's extreme sports actioner. Minus Vin Diesel. Or anything resembling thrills. Made possible by a truly dreadful auxiliary ending on the xXx DVD, which saw Xander Cage (played by Diesel's stunt double) ignominiously blown up.
Why It's Terrible: Die Another Day director Lee Tamahori takes the reins here, bringing a horribly reminiscent sheen of CGI crumminess to the stunts. And, as if the producers were worried about incumbent lead Ice Cube being able to handle the action duties, he's given two blank-faced partners to share the shame with.
What They Should Have Done: Drafted in Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as the Diesel substitute.
Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009)
The Sequel: After the unsettling success of the first film, a sequel was all but guaranteed. The shrill rodent count was doubled with the arrival of female rivals The Chippettes.
Why It's Terrible: The cynicism that permeates this leaves a bad taste in the mouth, as the success of the first film earnt it a carbon copy re-run, complete with shoddy CGI, sugary sentiment, and bemused humanfolk. For the most undemanding of tots only.
What They Should Have Done: Gone back to the funny and cute '60s cartoon (The Alvin Show), or the ace 1990 series The Chipmunks Go To The Movies, for inspiration.
Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008)
The Sequel: Arriving an eyebrow-raising 21 years after the original, Corey Feldman's vampire-hunter Edgar Frog is back in business when the new-girl in town is bitten by the craze.
Why It's Terrible: The cheapo production ropes in Kiefer Sutherland's half-brother Angus, and everything else gets a similar downgrade in quality. Corey Haim gets a credits cameo, if you can be bothered to hang around until the end.
What They Should Have Done? Gone down the comedy route, as there was no way anyone was ever going to watch this in anything other than an ironic way.
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)
The Sequel: After Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg proved that toy lines were a bankable resource of cinematic ideas, the battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons cranks up for round 2.
Why It's Terrible: There's a general air of incoherence drowning the whole thing from the lame Apocalypto -lite opening, to the impossible-to-follow action set pieces and the who-gives-a-damn relationship woes of Sam and Mikaela. And there are some unforgivable plot holes too: personified by the 'bot who can take on human form.
What They Should Have Done: Pushed the humans (and irritating sidekicks) firmly into the background for a Transformers-orientated affair. And Bay should have romanced the frame a little more, rather than dry-humping it into submission.
