It has often been said that sequels fail to live up to the original films they follow, and though that’s not always true, a handful of sequels have been great disappointments. The exceptions are the likes of The Dark Knight, Top Gun: Maverick, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but there are still far more lackluster sequels than great ones.

Sequels that fail to live up to the first installment happen all the time, but the 2010s saw a huge number of these. Some just lost what made the original so successful, and some were franchises that went on so long that the sequels got increasingly worse. What they all have in common is how they disappointed loyal fans.

Cars 2 (2011)

The first Cars, released in 2006, isn’t considered one of Pixar’s very best movies, but it’s a beloved film that was a huge hit and spawned a long-running franchise. It’s actually surprising that the franchise became so popular, given how disappointing the first follow-up was.

2011’s Cars 2 brought back the characters and voice actors from the original, yet went in a completely different direction. Rather than focus on another Lightning McQueen adventure, his buddy Tow Mater was thrust into the forefront, with the story becoming an unexpected spy comedy.

While the film was a commercial success, critical reviews for Cars 2 were a major letdown. To this day, it’s the only Pixar release to receive a “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The main issue was that Mater is a character who is best in a supporting role, as too much of him isn’t a good thing.

Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)

To be fair to Texas Chainsaw 3D, no sequel in this horror franchise has been able to live up to the 1974 original. Though released to mixed reviews initially, The Texas Chain Saw Mᴀssacre is now considered a true classic of the genre that helped popularize the slasher subgenre and influence movies for decades to come.

The Texas Chain Saw Mᴀssacre sequels have been a mixed bag and while none have touched the original, Texas Chainsaw 3D is in the conversation for the worst installment of the franchise. The main point of the film was to utilize the 3D trend that had swept movie theaters during the time.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much else for the sequel and even bringing back Gunnar Hansen (the original Leatherface) in a special appearance didn’t work. Texas Chainsaw 3D was met with negative reviews for thin characters, shoddy dialogue, and more.

Scary Movie V (2013)

When the first Scary Movie came out, it was a huge hit that hilariously parodied popular films from the previous few decades. Whether it was horror movies like Scream or sci-fi hits like The Matrix, nothing seemed off-limits, and while reviews weren’t sparkling, there’s no denying the fun of Scary Movie.

The second entry is just about as good, but after the departure of The Wayans Brothers, each installment got subsequently worse. This peaked with 2013’s Scary Movie V, which also lost stars Anna Faris and Regina Hall, taking away all the highlights of the first two films.

Scary Movie V has a shockingly low 4% Rotten Tomatoes score. The parody aspects weren’t as clever as they used to be, and the filmmakers seemed more interested in attempts at cheap laughs over anything else. The franchise was saddled for over a decade after this, though Scary Movie 6 is coming up with the original stars returning.

A Good Day To Die Hard (2013)

A problem that faces many long-running film franchises is that it’s increasingly difficult to keep up the high quality of earlier installments as things progress. One series to run into that is Die Hard. The 1988 original is well-regarded as one of the best action and Christmas movies of all time.

Die Hard still gets rewatched annually around the holiday season, and while the first is the best, the second film and especially the third, which paired Bruce Willis with Samuel L. Jackson, are quite good. Unfortunately, the fourth and fifth entries missed the mark.

A Good Day to Die Hard is the fifth film and remains the worst according to critics and most longtime fans. Bruce Willis is clearly still solid as John McClane but the screenplay is riddled with clichés and doesn’t do anything that’s all that interesting.

The Hangover Part III (2013)

There are wacky comedies released every year, so it’s hard for one to stand out. The Hangover managed to be one of the few breakouts among those in 2009, catching lightning in a bottle and becoming a mᴀssive hit that grossed nearly $500 million, which is especially rare for an R-rated comedy.

The premise, centering on friends who wake up from a bachelor party with no memory of the night before and the groom missing, is perfect for a fun one-off film. Alas, due to its box office success, the studio wanted more, and we got not one, but two sequels.

As noted, The Hangover story doesn’t really work more than once, and both sequels were criticized for hitting the same notes. The Hangover Part III did try to stray from the formula a little bit, but the action aspects didn’t really work and the comedy wasn’t anywhere near as fun as the first film.

Dumb And Dumber To (2014)

Hollywood, especially in recent history, is littered with legacy sequels that fail to live up to the original. More often than not, these are movies that are held in high regard and didn’t need sequels but studios know they’d bring in money, so they greenlight them and it rarely works out.

That was the case with Dumb and Dumber To. 1994’s Dumb and Dumber is a legitimate comedy classic that was a box office hit, is beloved to this day, and helped make Jim Carrey into a mᴀssive star of the era. He and Jeff Daniels are perfect as the dim-witted best friends.

20 years later, Dumb and Dumber To brought the actors back together to lackluster results. The film was lambasted for the comedy coming across as tired and feeling like nothing more than a cash grab. 2003 actually also saw a Dumb and Dumber prequel arrive, but that was met with the worst reviews of them all.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)

When the first Paranormal Activity arrived, it took the movie world by storm. On a budget of under $500,000, the film raked in nearly $200 million and had audiences everywhere debating on what was real and what wasn’t, bringing true scares back into movie theaters.

The second and third installments were met with mixed reviews but aren’t considered bad. However, every entry since has been met with very negative reviews. While Paranormal Activity 4 really started the franchise’s downfall, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension remains the low point.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension holds a meager 15% Rotten Tomatoes rating, and it was clear by this point that the franchise was running low on ideas. The scares weren’t nearly as well-thought-out out and though it answered some longstanding questions, it effectively ended the franchise with a whimper for years.

Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Another legacy sequel that failed was Independence Day: Resurgence. The 1996 original is one of the most iconic blockbusters of all time, raking in over $800 million, further launching Will Smith into superstardom, and becoming a staple of 4th of July viewing for many Americans.

As loved as that film is, nobody was really clamoring for a sequel 20 years later. Independence Day is a great standalone film, yet a sequel was released two decades later to underwhelming critical and commercial reception.

Director Roland Emmerich has come out and admitted his dissatisfaction with Independence Day: Resurgence and that he regrets making it without Will Smith. Reviews were poor, with most critics saying it lacked the emotional depth that gave the first one its mᴀss appeal.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

The history of X-Men movies is a mixed bag. There are films held in high esteem like X2, Days of Future Past, and Logan, while some are among the most disappointing in superhero movie history like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Last Stand, and Apocalypse.

However, no X-Men film was more upsetting than X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Released in 2019, it was the fourth entry in the prequel series, which started with a bang thanks to the highly lauded X-Men: First Class. Dark Phoenix got a lot of things wrong as it concluded the era of films.

For starters, the timeline doesn’t really make sense with the characters who started in the ’60s, the villain is incredibly dull, and several actors don’t seem to want to be there. Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique was killed off early, characters felt off from previous portrayals, and the writing was messy.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

If there’s one movie fanbase that is sure to let their opinions on new releases be heard, it’s Star Wars. The original trilogy is legendary and while the prequel films were poorly received upon release, disdain for the sequel trilogy has led to a lighter reception for those.

Disney’s sequel trilogy started strongly as The Force Awakens expertly blended nostalgia with introducing interesting new characters. However, The Last Jedi was a mixed bag that critics loved but longtime Star Wars fans loathed, leaving the studio unsure of what to do with the final installment.

That led to The Rise of Skywalker, which doesn’t seem sure of what it wants to be. They brought back Palpatine with no solid explanation, threw in plot twists that aren’t needed, and included cheap fake-outs meant to garner a reaction. It was a messy end to an even messier trilogy that never had a cohesive vision across three entries.