EDITORIAL: The curse of the threequels - fact or fiction?

EDITORIAL: The curse of the threequels - fact or fiction?

The third movie of nearly every movie series is commonly considered to be the worse of the trilogy, thus spreading word of a "curse" on threequels. Here, I'll give input on some of those threequels (some based off of comic books, some not) that were not received near as much as their predecessors.

Editorial Opinion
By PaulRom - Jan 24, 2011 01:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Other

1. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Ah yes. Ever since its release, Spider-Man 3 was a big success at the box office, but critics were mixed, and fans were even more negative (I honestly have a hard time finding someone who actually enjoyed SM3). I, personally, greatly enjoyed the movie, despite its obvious flaws. If they cut back on Sandman (it might have been best to not include him at all...even though Thomas Haden Church was perfect in the role) and added more Venom (heck, if they brought in a much more muscular version [such as in Ultimate Spider-Man) that would've been great), and shortened the length some, then it likely would've been more on par with its predecessors. I rate Spider-Man 3 a 4.5/5.

2. Batman Forever (1995)

As a sort of preface, I wanted to note that I have not seen Batman & Robin (and I have no intention to do so), so I can't give a complete opinion on the original Batman series as a whole. The biggest weaknesses in Forever were the much more family friendly feel (in exchange of the darker mood with Burton's movies) that ultimately resulted in very cartoony Riddler and Two-Face, and the swapping of Michael Keaton to Val Kilmer in the role of the Caped Crusader. Personally, I think Kilmer has more of that Bruce Wayne look than Keaton, but it's hard to consider Forever as a sequel to Burton's two go-around's because the change of cast doesn't make it connect well enough with the first two. So overall, I consider Batman Forever to be the weakest comic book movie I've ever seen, with a rating of 2.5/5.

3. Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

I became a fan of the franchise a month ago when I saw Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest. AWE still contains those thrilling action scenes, but the plotline(s) made it very confusing to follow, and overall a disappointment compared to its predecessors. Also, it was way too long in length. Still, I found it to be a mostly thrilling adventure that concluded the trilogy, and I give it a 3.5/5.

4. Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (2009)

The Ice Age franchise has always been one of my favorite animated movie series, and I personally found the third entry to be the best yet. Sure, the plotline is kind of unoriginal, but the animation is fantastically bright. I give Dawn Of The Dinosaurs a rating of 4.5/5 (if not the big 5).

5. Shrek The Third (2007)

I've never been a fan of the Shrek franchise (the first two are still some of my least favorite movies of all time). The third one was a surprising step up (or at least in my opinion). Most of the flaws that were with the first two (such as the unneeded crude humor) that weakened the first two are still present, however. I rate Shrek The Third a 3/5.

6. Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi

Yes, I'm definitely one of the bigger SW fanatics out there to say the least, and I thought ROTJ was the best of the original trilogy. Sure the first was really good, and Empire Strikes Back was pretty good, but ROTJ had more to like (in my opinion, of course). Unfortunately, it's commonly considered the weakest of the original trilogy. Given it's one of my favorite science fiction movies of all time, I rate ROTJ (also known as Star Wars VI, given the prequels) a 5/5, without a doubt.

And I know there are many, many threequels out there. But these are a few that weren't appreciated as much as the originals or twoquels of different franchises. And another thing...some threequels that were commonly poo-poo talked (such as X-Men 3, Superman 3, etc) I have yet to see, so I can't include them here.

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PaulRom
PaulRom - 1/24/2011, 1:34 PM
Sorry guys, I forgot to put this in Editorials. Let me try again.
marvel72
marvel72 - 1/24/2011, 1:37 PM
sorry you gave spider-man 3.....4.5/5,you are joking aren't you.

i know your entitled to like what you want but i think that rating is abit high.

SHHH
SHHH - 1/24/2011, 1:37 PM
The Bourne Ultimatum
What is not ta like??




The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Goldfinger
Mission Impossible III
Harry Potter The Prisoner of Azkaban
Army of Darkness

I personally didn't like em all.. but It Don't make bad movies...
marvel72
marvel72 - 1/24/2011, 1:43 PM
@ teabag

i f*cking hate the ewoks & that picture is from "caravan of courage an ewok adventure" that movie sucked more than a cheap whore.
PaulRom
PaulRom - 1/24/2011, 1:52 PM
@marvel72 I agree that it has some pretty obvious flaws, and it wasn't near as good as the first two. But I still enjoyed most of it...and you might be right about 4.5 being a bit too high.
@teabag LOL.
SeaSerpentine
SeaSerpentine - 1/24/2011, 2:00 PM
I think "four-quels" are even worst.
Joker11
Joker11 - 1/24/2011, 2:35 PM
I was about to do an article on this. Great job though!!!!!
jbak368
jbak368 - 1/24/2011, 2:41 PM
See I thought Pirates 3 was way too long in breadth.
SmokinIndo
SmokinIndo - 1/24/2011, 2:47 PM
But what if the second movie is bad? Does that mean the curse was premature and have no effect on the third movie??
Paulley
Paulley - 1/24/2011, 3:39 PM
You know that reporter lady in Spider-Man 3 committed suicide.. probably after rewatching that horrible excuse for a movie
marvel72
marvel72 - 1/24/2011, 4:59 PM
@ teabag

you maybe right there,i see your a bigger ewok fan than me. :P
Ironbat95
Ironbat95 - 1/24/2011, 5:51 PM
Batman: Forever is not that bad. It is more like the comics imo than the burton films. Batman killed in those films wtf
jbak368
jbak368 - 1/24/2011, 8:46 PM
Being more like the comics doesn't necessarily make it a better movie. Batman Returns is the least like the comics, but it's still better than the Schumacher films. Hell, the Schumacher films resemble the comics more than the Nolan movies. The Nolan movies are just much better movies.
FutureCBMHero
FutureCBMHero - 1/24/2011, 10:00 PM
Oh yay, another person's opinion I know not to listen to.

As I've said before, if you like something that's fine, but God I know I have no reason to appreciate your opinion.
Orphix
Orphix - 1/25/2011, 5:48 AM
The main redeamming feature of SM3 was Sandman - of which there wasn't enough of - and you wanted to cut him out???

Wow!
SeaSerpentine
SeaSerpentine - 1/25/2011, 6:20 AM
Last Crusade is my favorite of the Indiana Jones films.

I also liked Toy Story 3.

@Ironbat95 agreed.
kerry67
kerry67 - 1/25/2011, 4:41 PM
I know taste is an ephemeral quality,but I must strenuously disagree with a great number of your conclusions. "The Empire Strikes Back" was an exploration of the darkness that resides in each hero; "Return of the Jedi" was a puppet show. "Shrek the Third" continued the downward spiral of the franchise. And "Batman Forever" was...well, okay, you were right about that one.
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