You have to know when to hang up your hat! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the movie series that have lost their Mojo - pun fully intended.
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00:00 "Come with me if you want to live!"
00:02 Welcome to WatchMojo!
00:04 And today we're counting down our picks for the movie series that have lost their
00:08 mojo.
00:09 Pun fully intended.
00:10 "You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of.
00:14 But you have heard of me."
00:16 We aren't saying these franchises are horrible or anything, just that they aren't as consistently
00:21 great as we'd like.
00:23 Number 10.
00:24 The Alien Franchise.
00:25 "This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off."
00:33 In 1979, Ellen Ripley became the last survivor of the Nostromo, and horror hasn't been
00:38 the same since.
00:40 Somehow they captured lightning in a bottle again with the sequel Aliens, but that's
00:45 where the luck ran out.
00:47 Apparently, there's only so many times you can see Sigourney Weaver fight a xenomorph
00:52 before it gets stale.
00:53 A lesson the franchise learned the hard way with Alien 3 and Resurrection.
01:05 For what it's worth, original director Ridley Scott tried to get things back on track with
01:09 a creative pivot for Prometheus and Alien Covenant, but based on the poor financial
01:15 returns, it's clear that most of the series' audience went with Ripley.
01:24 Number 9.
01:25 The Hangover Franchise.
01:26 "It is your fault!
01:27 All I wanted was a bachelor brunch!"
01:30 A joke is never as funny the second time around, let alone the third.
01:35 But that didn't stop The Hangover from trying.
01:38 Even though it built upon one of the greatest comedies of the generation, the highly anticipated
01:43 sequel came out to very middling reactions.
01:46 And that's putting it nicely.
01:53 Still it fared better than The Hangover Part 3, a movie that's as loud and annoying as
01:58 an actual hangover.
02:00 Side by side, you can practically see as the franchise devolves into a nonsensical cash
02:05 grab.
02:06 If you don't believe us, just take a look at the critics' scores.
02:10 For the sake of their dignity, fingers crossed, these guys lay off the booze for a while.
02:19 Number 8.
02:20 The Paranormal Activity Franchise.
02:23 As they say, the scarier they are, the bigger they fall, right?
02:27 Since the first Paranormal Activity single-handedly reignited the found-footage craze, sequels
02:32 were practically a given.
02:34 And to be fair, the first couple were pretty solid.
02:37 But after four entries of shaky-cam terror, both audiences and critics began to tire of
02:43 the same old same old.
02:51 That didn't stop Paramount from making them though, and they pumped out sequel after sequel
02:55 until finally laying the series to rest with the disappointing Ghost Dimension.
03:06 As if to prove how far the Paranormal Activity brand has fallen, the 2021 reboot, Next of
03:12 Kin, didn't even get a theatrical release.
03:15 Scary stuff indeed.
03:19 Number 7.
03:20 The Matrix Franchise.
03:30 When you hear people talk about The Matrix, they probably mention Keanu Reeves.
03:34 The industry-defining action scenes, or the deep, philosophical themes.
03:39 Odds are they won't bring up the sequels, and there's a good reason for that.
03:43 While Reloaded and Revolutions definitely have their fans, many agree they're a noticeable
03:47 step down from the original.
03:49 In fact, they were so divisive, the series wouldn't get another crack at the big screen
03:54 for almost 20 years.
03:58 However, despite its name, The Matrix Resurrections couldn't bring the series back to life.
04:04 Whether they took the red pill or the blue one, it's obvious that The Matrix sequels
04:08 have left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
04:16 Number 6.
04:18 The Jaws Franchise.
04:21 Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theatres, this shark decided to swim
04:25 back for round 2.
04:27 And then 2 more after that.
04:29 That's right, the original Jaws has 3 sequels, and somehow, they're each worse than the
04:35 last.
04:36 Jaws 2 was too safe, Jaws 3D was too bold, and by the time Jaws The Revenge came around,
04:42 no one cared anymore.
04:44 Least of all, audiences.
04:48 Each sequel earned less at the box office than the one before, with the fourth film
04:52 failing to earn even 15% of the first film's gross.
04:55 We'd bet this shark won't be swimming again for a long time, and honestly, that's
05:00 probably for the best.
05:07 Number 5.
05:08 The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World Franchise.
05:17 History really is doomed to repeat itself, and we don't just mean with dinosaurs.
05:23 To set the stage, the first Jurassic Park roared into cinemas in 1993 with history-making
05:29 results.
05:30 Then came a sequel, and another.
05:33 But instead of bolstering the brand, the lackluster addendums watered down any remaining novelty
05:38 of seeing dinosaurs on the big screen.
05:44 The 2015 reboot Jurassic World brought things back to their thrilling roots, only for its
05:50 trilogy to fall apart too.
05:52 Because sequels, Fallen Kingdom and Dominion, weren't just poorly received, they earned
05:58 some of the worst critic scores of the entire franchise to date.
06:04 Evidently, it's time for these dinos to go extinct again.
06:11 Number 4.
06:12 The Transformers Live Action Franchise.
06:21 Even though they've been around for a while, the live-action robots in disguise have yet
06:26 to win over many critics.
06:28 Still, the first Transformers managed to coast by on the merits of its breathtaking special
06:32 effects and grounded coming-of-age story.
06:35 The issue is that the series kept going, and going, and going.
06:40 Suddenly, the once-promising franchise became known for bloated runtimes, copy-and-paste
06:45 narratives, and boring, mindless action.
06:54 As a result, starting with 2014's Age of Extinction, fewer and fewer people began showing
06:59 up for mainline Transformers films.
07:02 We can't blame them either.
07:04 Giant fighting robots may have been worth the movie ticket in 2007, but after years
07:09 of borderline unwatchable sequels, they're a sign to stay clear.
07:19 Number 3.
07:20 The Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise.
07:29 Back in 2003, these pirates set sail for gold, and found a whole film series instead.
07:36 Unfortunately, their successive voyages haven't been quite as prolific.
07:41 While the original trilogy sailed through some choppy waters, Pirates didn't fully
07:45 capsize until On Stranger Tides.
07:48 There, they abandoned co-leads Will and Elizabeth, doubled down on Jack Sparrow, and turned in
08:02 an overly silly sequel that left the whole franchise in need of a life raft.
08:06 Somehow, 2017's Dead Men Tell No Tales performed even worse, seemingly sinking the series for
08:13 good.
08:14 By now, audiences have been burned so many times, it's hard to say if even the tease
08:22 of Will and Elizabeth's return can bring them back.
08:26 Number 2.
08:27 The Indiana Jones Franchise.
08:34 After over 40 years of adventuring, we wouldn't blame Indy if he wanted to retire already.
08:39 Especially since most of his audience already has.
08:42 Don't get us wrong, Raiders of the Lost Ark is an untouchable classic, but even the
08:48 series' most diehard fans would agree that none of the sequels have quite lived up to
08:52 that high bar.
08:54 If anything, the modern entries are going in the wrong direction.
08:59 To hammer it home, 2023's Dial of Destiny shaped up to be one of the biggest box office
09:05 bombs in film history.
09:07 They can make Indy look young all they want, but it won't bring back an audience that's
09:12 obviously moved on.
09:36 Number 1.
09:37 The Terminator Franchise.
09:41 There's Going Out with Grace, and then there's Terminator.
09:48 And to think it started out so strong.
09:55 The first two movies are downright legendary, and the second one even has a slew of Oscars
10:00 to prove it.
10:01 Sadly, everything after Judgment Day goes from bad to worse.
10:11 Rise of the Machines, Salvation, Genesis, Dark Fate, you name it, it probably belongs
10:17 in the scrap heap.
10:18 Some are certainly more entertaining than others, but the fact of the matter is that
10:23 none of them lived up to Terminator's genre-defining legacy.
10:27 Or at least, what's left of it.
10:29 These days it's hard to keep defending a series that has a lot more duds than hits.
10:42 What franchise do you think overstayed its welcome?
10:45 Let us know in the comments below.
10:57 And as always, thanks for watching.
11:06 (upbeat music)