The consensus is that a film’s sequel should continue on the narrative established in the original film. However, there are some sequels that have been released that not only went in a different direction, but ignored some plot lines from the previous entry.
A couple of Reddit users gathered yesterday to discuss some of the sequels that shifted away from stories already put in place, only to revisit them afresh in the next film.
The original poster’s issues began after rewatching Men in Black and its sequel Men in Black II, pointing out that the sequel “retreads so much of the same ground.”
A popular franchise that made the list was Toy Story. In the original film, Buzz Lightyear believes he is a real space ranger and not an action figure. For much of the film, his character refuses to come to terms that he is simply a toy. While he comes to the realization by the end of the first film, Toy Story 2 sees the character reverting to the mindset that he is a space ranger by the middle of the film.
Another film franchise noted for moving on from established plots was Resident Evil, starring Milla Jovovich. The sequels almost always ignore the events from the previous films and venture into newer territories. As one poster indicated, “it feels like six separate films that were retroactively stitched together into sequels.”
Several film franchises were named by users for completely undoing the work of the previous films, including: Cars, Terminator, Transformers, Highlander, Fast & Furious, and more.
While many sequels have gained a reputation for completely ignoring the grounded moments provided in previous films, a lot of the aforementioned films still performed very well and, by and large, fans don’t seem to care much. Who needs a cohesive narrative, anyway?