After Shakespeare penned Henry VI, Part 3, do you think anyone complained that Renaissance England had run out of original ideas? I’m not sure, but I can guarantee that anyone who’s seen Weekend at Bernie’s II wishes that most sequels hadn’t been made.
There are exceptions – Godfather II hit harder than the original. The Dark Knight took the start of Batman Begins and made it into either the most thoughtful action movie of all time, or the fasted-paced thoughtful movie of all time (at least until Inception) – but, sadly, far more films fit the rule – and more sequels fail to surpass their original work.
As evidence, all sequels with Rotten Tomatoes scores have been categorized below, with the originals’ scores on the X-axis, and the sequels’ scores on the Y. Films at the center line are sequels with the exact rating as the original; films above are sequels that have surpassed the original; films below, ones that fared worse.
Notes: Categorization of sequels is sometimes more art than science, so I’ve had to follow a few rules: I’ve only included the second film in any series, never third or following films. I haven’t included remakes or “reboots,” and I’m only presenting films which opened (at some time) in the US and have Rotten Tomatoes ratings.
And finally, it’s worth noting that the only two film/sequel combos to both score 100%, are the first two Toy Storys and the French films Jean de Florette / Manon des Sources.
Rotten Tomatoes ratings from RottenTomatoes.com. US Gross from www.the-numbers.com.