The 25 Worst Movie Sequels of All Time

The fifth entry into the horror-spoof series is accused of being “juvenile even by Scary Movie standards,” according to Rotten Tomatoes’ Critics Consensus. Only 4% of the 52 critics who reviewed it on the site and 38% of the 100,000+ moviegoers gave the movie a positive review. Regardless, the movie managed to gross $32 million at the domestic domestic box office when it was released, even more worldwide, against its reported $20 million budget.

“The Blair Witch Project” (1999), which is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, was a massive success upon its release and helped popularize the found footage horror subgenre. “Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2” (2000), however, abandons this approach and is worse off for it, pleasing only 14% of critics and 18% of viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

Jean-Claude Van Damme returns for this sequel to “Universal Soldier” (1992) as a cyborg warrior tasked with going to war with a group of android killing machines. The original movie was poorly received. The sequel did even worse, both among critics and viewers. Only 5% of critics and 24% of audiences could get behind the movie, with the Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus blaming everything from “its generic story to its second rate action and subpar performances” for its failure.

“Dumb and Dumber” (1994) is a fan favorite, thanks in large part to the comedic performances of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. The sequel (though plot-wise it’s a prequel), “Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd” (2003) produced far fewer laughs and received a good review from only 10% of critics and 23% of viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie failed to recoup its $30 million production budget at the domestic box office.

The Batman franchise is hugely popular, and critics generally review its various films positively. Joel Schumacher’s “Batman & Robin” (1997) is a notable exception, receiving only positive reviews from 12% of the critics on Rotten Tomatoes. A slightly larger share of audience members liked it, at 16%. George Clooney, who stars as Batman, later told the Hollywood Reporter that he “wasn’t good in it” and “it wasn’t a good film.”