Great Movies That Didn't Need Sequels (2024)

Sometimes, when a movie or TV show is exceptional, it’s only natural for someone to follow up on the story. Whether the follow-up is a spin-off, a reboot, a new season, a book, or a sequel, there’s often plenty of room to expand upon a popular tale. However, there are also plenty of examples of stories that didn’t need follow-ups.

While it’s not always accurate, there’s often the assumption that a movie’s sequel can never be as good as the original. The assumption can stretch to fit entire movie franchises, as well, with some fans picking beloved entries to watch and ignoring the poorer-quality options. Unfortunately, when a movie is successful, there’s often a push to capitalize on it as long as possible or pull bits and pieces out of the story until every part gets used up. So, several fantastic movies got sequels when they really didn’t need them.

Toy Story 3 Was a Perfect Farewell

Toy Story

G

A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman action figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's bedroom.

Studio

Pixar

Toy Story 3 was the 2010 followup to the ‘90s Toy Story movies. It follows the beloved toys as they enter a new era with their human Andy, who’s preparing for college. While Andy and his mom sort through his things, the toys accidentally end up in a daycare center with kids who don’t play gently. The movie ends with all the toys reunited and Andy giving them to a little girl.

Toy Story 3 was a perfect sendoff for the franchise as it depicts a toy’s lifecycle. They might stick with one kid until they grow up, and then it starts over with a new human. The third movie was certainly sad for the kids that grew up with Toy Story as they matured along with Andy, but it was a sweet way to say goodbye. So, 2019’s Toy Story 4 and the upcoming Toy Story 5 squander that happy ending, thus drawing the story out beyond its shelf life.

Taken's Sequels Put the Mills Family Through Too Much

Taken

An action franchise centering on Bryan Mills, a retired CIA operative.

Created by

Luc Besson

First Film

Taken

See Also

25 Movies From the ’90s That Weren’t That Good - Wealth of Geeks32 Movies From Major Directors That Don't Get Talked About EnoughSticking point: Movies that failed in getting their message across10 Iconic Actors Who Hurt Their Legacies With Disappointing Final Movies

Latest Film

Taken 3

Cast

Liam Neeson , Maggie Grace , Famke Janssen , Clive Standen

The 2008 movie Taken follows Liam Neeson’s character Bryan Mills as his plans to reconnect with his daughter Kim get destroyed after she gets kidnapped in Paris. As a former government operative, he has a very particular set of skills. So, the film focuses on his promise to look for, find, and kill the human traffickers who took his daughter. It’s a simple premise with a misleading depiction of trafficking that did pretty well upon release and established Neeson as an action icon.

With that said, though, Taken 2 and Taken 3 were equally mediocre and quite unnecessary. The sequel features Bryan Mills and his ex-wife Lenore getting kidnapped and his skills letting them escape. The third movie changes the pattern a little bit, as instead of kidnapping, Lenore gets murdered, and Bryan gets framed, so he goes on the run and finds her killer. As such, the first Taken would’ve been perfect as a standalone story, as expanding upon it drew the premise out too much.

Mean Girls Had a Non-Musical Sequel

Mean Girls

PG-13

Comedy

Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.

Release Date

April 30, 2004

Director

Mark Waters

Cast

Amy Poehler , Lacey Chabert , Tina Fey , Rachel McAdams , Amanda Seyfried , Lindsay Lohan

Runtime

97 minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

Writers

Tina Fey

Mean Girls is the iconic 2004 movie that’s still culturally relevant nearly 20 years later. Written by Tina Fey, the movie features Cady Heron’s adventures during her first year attending a public American high school. She gets a quick education on the clique population before accidentally stumbling into the elite and mean popular girls called the Plastics. It’s one of the most beloved teen movies of the Y2K era.

While Mean Girls opened 2024 with a brand-new movie, it’s not exactly a reboot or sequel to the original. Instead, it’s a movie version of the musical that opened on Broadway in 2017. Still, the new movie isn’t the only Mean Girls sequel. The standalone Mean Girls 2 dropped in 2011 to mixed reviews. Overall, it was an okay movie and a different take on the Mean Girls high school drama story. But it will likely forever be the random Mean Girls sequel that’s not nearly as good as its predecessor.

Die Hard's John McClane Couldn't Save the Sequels

Die Hard

R

Action

Thriller

A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

Release Date

July 15, 1988

Director

John McTiernan

Cast

Bruce Willis , Bonnie Bedelia , Reginald VelJohnson , Paul Gleason , William Atherton , Hart Bochner

Runtime

132 minutes

Main Genre

Action

Writers

Roderick Thorp , Jeb Stuart , Steven E. de Souza

Studio

20th Century Fox

Production Company

Silver Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Gordon Company

Die Hard dropped in 1988 and follows John McClane, played by Bruce Willis, who goes to his wife’s company Christmas party at Nakatomi Plaza. But their party is interrupted by a group of terrorists led by Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber. So, naturally, McClane had to save the day. The movie is perhaps best known for the infamous debate about its status as a holiday movie. It’s an overall great movie, with fantastic acting and high ratings.

The same doesn’t apply to its sequels. Even though Bruce Willis does well throughout the sequels, most of them progressively worsen. Their ratings show a dramatic decline in every sequel except 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard, which was rated just a little under the original. Still, Die Hard would’ve been a great standalone movie, and four sequels were overkill.

The Exorcist Had Several Flop Sequels

The Exorcist

R

Horror

When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.

Release Date

December 26, 1973

Director

William Friedkin

Cast

Ellen Burstyn , Max Von Sydow , Linda Blair , Lee J. Cobb

Runtime

122 minutes

Main Genre

Horror

See Also

10 Movies Below 10% On Rotten Tomatoes That Are Actually Worth Watching

Studio

Warner Home Video

1973’s The Exorcist is not only one of the best horror movies of the 1970s, it’s one of the best-known movies of all time. It follows a young girl named Regan, who starts acting strange after she plays with an Ouija board. Out of options, her mother turns to the Catholic Church to expel the vulgar demon Pazuzu from the girl’s body. The movie ends with the evil getting expelled from Regan’s body.

Like Mean Girls, The Exorcist also got a brand-new movie with Exorcist: Believer, which actually took the right approach to a legacy sequel. Unfortunately, The Exorcist got four other films, with two sequels and two prequels. Still, Exorcist II: The Heretic is widely considered a failed continuation of the Pazuzu saga.

Dirty Dancing Was a Classic

Dirty Dancing

PG-13

Drama

Romance

Release Date

August 21, 1987

Director

Emile Ardolino

Cast

jennifer grey , Patrick swayze , Jerry Orbach , Cynthia Rhodes

Runtime

100 minutes

Main Genre

Drama

Writers

Eleanor Bergstein

Dirty Dancing follows Baby’s last summer before she joins the Peace Corps. While she’s initially disappointed that her last summer of youth lands her family in a posh resort in the Catskills, she gets introduced to the resort’s entertainment staff, mainly Patrick Swayze’s Johnny. In her journey for an unforgettable summer, she and Johnny partner up for the last big dance of the summer, falling in love along the way. The 1987 movie has some problematic elements, but the forbidden love story is timeless.

Unfortunately, not everyone was okay letting the movie be a perfect standalone. 2004 spawned Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, which was also a standalone movie but very poorly received. There was also a 2017 TV movie that did even worse. A new Dirty Dancing movie is reportedly somewhere in the works with original star Jennifer Grey attached and hoping to honor Swayze’s memory. So, one can only hope it’s a far better Dirty Dancing movie than the other sequels.

Jurassic Park Was a Unique Premise

Jurassic Park

PG-13

Adventure

Sci-Fi

A pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.

Release Date

June 11, 1993

Director

Steven Spielberg

Cast

Sam Neill , Laura Dern , Jeff Goldblum , Richard Attenborough , Bob Peck , Martin Ferrero

Runtime

127 minutes

Main Genre

Action-Adventure

Writers

Michael Crichton , David Koepp

Production Company

Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment

The Jurassic Park franchise is one of the best Steven Spielberg creations to date. The premise is simple, as the movies center around a dinosaur-inhabited area and a subsequent hunting spree when the creatures escape confinement. The first movie was groundbreaking and cemented dinosaur horror into pop culture.

There’s no questioning that the franchise is fantastic. With that said, though, Jurassic Park and Jurassic World are the only two entries that aren’t rated poorly. The premise and the first movie set a really high bar, and most of the sequels simply didn’t live up to the original.

Jaws Took a Bite Out of Shark Movies

Jaws

PG

When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.

Release Date

June 20, 1975

Director

Steven Spielberg

Cast

Roy Scheider , Robert Shaw , Richard Dreyfuss , Lorraine Gary

Runtime

2 hours 4 minutes

Main Genre

Thriller

Another Steven Spielberg classic is the 1975 movie Jaws. It follows the small town of Amity Island as a shark throws a wrench in the summer fun. It’s one of the first killer shark movies in the horror genre.

Jaws was never supposed to have any sequels, especially given the open-and-shut nature of the first movie. So, when the studios called for a Jaws 2, not only did Spielberg drop out, but a couple of the first movie’s stars also wanted nothing to do with it. The consensus was that a sequel would unnecessarily drag out the shark trend, and it certainly did, with three other movies holding the Jaws name.

Grease Left Everyone Hopelessly Devoted

Grease

PG

Good girl Sandy Olsson and greaser Danny Zuko fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?

Release Date

June 16, 1978

Director

Randal Kleiser

Cast

Olivia Newton-John , John Travolta , Stockard Channing , Jeff Conaway

Runtime

1 hour 50 minutes

Main Genre

Musical

1978’s Grease follows the friendships, romances, and adventures of a group of students at Rydell High School. The focus is on the leather-clad bad boy Danny Zuko and the wholesome exchange student Sandy Olsson as they reunite after a lovely but short-lived summer romance. Unfortunately, their romance struggles to carry over into the clique life of a 1950s high school.

Grease was the most successful movie musical for a long time, and it’s still a timeless classic. While it didn’t get a rebooted sequel, Paramount+ released a short-lived prequel series following the iconic Pink Ladies. Still, Grease wasn’t immune to the unnecessary and unwanted sequel trend, as Grease 2 dropped in 1982 as a complete flop.

American Psycho Was an Ambiguous Classic

American Psycho

R

A wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.

Release Date

April 14, 2000

Director

Mary Harron

Cast

Jared Leto , Reese Witherspoon , Chloe Sevigny , Willem Dafoe , Justin Theroux , Christian Bale

Runtime

101 minutes

Studio

Lions Gate Films

American Psycho follows Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman, who lives a striking double life. By day, he’s a suit-and-tie-wearing professional, and by night, he’s a gruesome serial killer. The movie is a brutal dark comedy and thriller with a stronghold on early 2000s cinema.

The movie, unfortunately, not only fell victim to the bizarre musical adaptation fad, but it also got a sequel that no one expected. American Psycho 2, sometimes called All-American Girl, dropped in 2002 and was set to fail almost immediately. Firstly, the author of the American Psycho novel wasn’t a fan even before its release, and star Mila Kunis admitted the movie wasn’t good. Perhaps the biggest issue with the sequel is its lack of ambiguity. There’s no room for social commentary or questions about whether the murders actually happened. Instead, the movie is just a poorly made-slasher that American Psycho could’ve done without.