Some of Hollywood’s biggest action franchises have gone completely off the rails, Getting crazier and harder to justify with each new movie. This has a major overlap with movie franchises that are too big for their own good, because studios find ways to keep the franchise going, or too many ongoing storylines too funny to exist are already included. It would have been best for the franchise and its legacy if it had ended after two or three movies.
Movie franchises are ruined by the exit of an actor, or one particularly bad installment. On the other hand, a few select movie franchises came back after a hiatus with their best movie yet, making the rest of Hollywood believe it can achieve the same thing with series that have been in decline. yet The weird back stories in some of the most popular action franchises show that this is often a pipe dream, And it cannot return the franchise to its former glory.
10
Terminator
Latest Movie: Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) Terminator has repeated itself too many times, leading to some strange results grasping at originality.
The Terminator franchise has struggled with repeating its genre-defining time travel adventure many times, where a Terminator and a protector are both sent back in time to fight over the life of someone important to the future resistance. This led to one of the messiest timelines in pop culture, though Terminator Zero managed to clear things up a bit.
Considered among the best action movies ever made, The Terminator And Terminator 2: Judgment Day are still easily the best Terminator Movies, from before the franchise has worn out its main gimmick. However, apart from the timeline getting progressively worse, Terminator has unfortunately turned to poorly conceived action concepts to fuel the plot of later movies.
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The later Terminator The flaws of the installments include the not-completely-explained origins of Sam Worthington’s hybrid character, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator settling down with a family, and the notoriously evil John Connor. Terminator repeated too many times, leading to some strange results grasping at originality.
9
Jurassic World
Latest Movie: Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
The basic theme of Jurassic ParkWhen it kicked things off, it was a cautionary tale about redirecting the course of nature. This led to Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking movie, which left some valid concepts to be developed into sequels. The breeding of the dinosaurs, despite the efforts of human scientists, is an interesting subplot with consequences to be explored. however, The original Jurassic Park Trilogy does not escape strange, unnecessary moments, Like a dream of a raptor talking to Dr. Alan Grant.
The Jurassic World Movies quit Jurassic Parks main theme, Become more of an environmentalist and animal rights storyteller. They claim that the audience accepts things like raptor training, which *could* be possible. On the other hand, aspects like dinosaur auctions, cloned humans, an unrealistic cooperation between humans and dinosaurs, and simply releasing dinosaurs into the wild of the mainland, which is treated as a good idea. The movies.
8
Mission: Impossible
Most recent movie: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
The first Mission: Impossible Movie starring Tom Cruise was a comparatively grounded action flick with classic vibes Which formed many espionage troops looked upon with affection. The stakes and action build with each passing movie, which jumps back and forth in the supposed timeline of Ethan Hunt’s life. However, if the audience watches each installment as a standalone and judges it on its own merits, it works. The upcoming Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two is the obvious exception.
However, the problem with mounting stakes and each movie trying to outdo the last is the feeling of the franchise reaching a breaking point. Cruise has become famous for doing his own stunts, and it seems like every new one Mission: Impossible Movie shows him doing something even more death-defying Just because of that. Meanwhile, the action becomes ridiculous in taste from the perspective of the audience, while the espionage plots are now just too complicated.
7
Fantastic animals
Latest Movie: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)
Fantastic beasts and where to find themHis job was so easy: Stick to these Harry Potter Canon, while showcasing more action and places with a stellar cast, and the movies would all be hits. But the franchise contradicted what fans knew about the timeline of the books, namely with the contested McGonagall Fantastic animals Plot hole. Meanwhile, instead of sticking to a predictable but visually spectacular take on the war with Grindelwald, the series contrives awkward sub-conflicts.
The Wizarding World suddenly adhering to the word of a baby magical creature called a Killin makes no sense; The Lost Dumbledore plot is just as misaligned. No one knows how Joseph defeated Grindelwald, or how a muggle is also able to use a wand. Fantastic Beasts 4 It’s increasingly unlikely in light of HBO Harry Potter Reboot plans, which might be a relief if it led to even more badass subplots.
6
Ice Age
Latest Movie: The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wilde (2022)
like Ice Age Arguably becomes more of an action franchise, the weirder it gets. The first movie was a pleasantly off-beat take on anthropomorphic prehistoric animals, with lots of walking and popular music and only a few beats that could loosely be considered action. The Ice Age Franchise then dives into the claim that basically every major prehistoric event that drastically altered life on Earth happened within a few years, So it can be shown in the franchise.
A massive flood and dinosaurs are a bit wacky, but at least the movies keep the feel of an animal-centric setting with nothing too modern. however, Ice Age becomes bolder with his claims of his comical side character causing continental drift and a collision course in minutes, And somehow it doesn’t immediately change all the uppercase letters. As of the last movies, it’s just another money-grabbing goofy talking animal franchise rather than the gritty and tragic but still family-friendly originals.
5
Game Pirates of the Caribbean
Most recent movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) The supernatural half of Pirates of the Caribbean doesn’t really go off the rails until the last movie.
The first Pirates of the Caribbean Executed a perfect blend of classic swashbuckling adventure and supernatural intrigue. The supernatural elements got bigger and wilder with the second and third movies, but at least they feel like they have a place in the story. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s EndThe picture of Davy Jones’ locker is weird, But the surreal adventure was promised as the main event.
The character arcs are handled with less finesse in each still Pirates of the Caribbean Movie. The biggest offender in this regard is the storyline of Captain Jack Sparrow himself, Who worked better as a mascot rather than a grounded character. Revealing more elements of his backstory and giving him a serious love interest was to the detriment of his free-willing persona.
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However, the supernatural half of Pirates of the Caribbean Doesn’t really go off the rails until the last movie. A meaningless new ghost storyline and contradictions of Established Davy Jones study make it the most bogged-down movie yet. Margot Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean Spinoff can only hope to do better.
4
Die hard
Last Movie: A Good Day to Die (2013)
John McClane being a fearless everyman is a major part of Die hards selling point. John and his wife Holly are caught in a terrorist attack and do their best to protect everyone in the building, which makes the movie exciting By invoking a sense of reality. It is plausible that they are real people who act this way under pressure. Alan Rickman’s brilliant performance as Hans Gruber is also an amazing element that the franchise lost after the first movie.
Like many action franchises that go on too long, Die hard Was caught trying to outdo himself with the action. At the time of A good day to dieThe franchise is another empty spectacle with a bunch of plot points that make no sense for John’s character. Flamethrowers, crashing vehicles, and intergenerational CIA. Missions are a long way from one average police officer finding himself in unfortunate circumstances.
3
Indiana Jones
Last Movie: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
The first Three Indiana Jones Movies share the trait that supernatural or technical marvels are isolated incidents. Indy goes on an adventure in a temple where there are some impressive but technically possible traps; He discovers an interesting artifact that has a specific, contained effect. None of them are the greatest cinematic spectacles, serving the semi-realistic aesthetic of the movies. That changed with the last two Indiana Jones Movies.
First was the highly ridiculous claim that a refrigerator would offer the protection needed to survive a nuclear blast. The discovery of aliens and the sequence of their flying saucer going off feel distinctly out of place in the established tone of the franchise. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is at least better than the last movie, But still takes things to weird places with literal time travel and Indy meeting Archimedes.
2
Fox’s X-Men
Latest Movie: Dark Phoenix (2019)
Although not as successful or acclaimed as Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy or the best MCU movies, Fox X-Men Movies were relatively good in the early 2000s. Later, they recast many of the characters with admittedly great actors for a prequel, moderately scrambling their canon with some contradictions. in their own right, X-Men: First Class And X-Men: Days of Future Past are good movies.
X-Men: Apocalypse And Dark Phoenix This is where things start to fall apart, just before Disney acquired the rights to the characters. The former recounts Magneto’s tragic backstory before launching into a strange exploration of Apocalypse’s powers, Which is partly the fault of the source material.
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after that, Fox tried and failed to do a good adaptation of the famous Dark Phoenix storyline. The movie is weighed down by multiple laughable elements that are traded for a good character arc for Jean. Aliens invading the movie was the last straw before Disney bought the franchise, enshrining its best standalones and ignoring the worst parts in the future.
1
Fast & Furious
Last Movie: Fast X (2023)
The car stunts in the first Fast & Furious Movie are relatively believable when considering the most ridiculous scene in each Fast & Furious Movie. The premise was essentially crime about people with a passion and affinity for cars and racing. yet The Fast & Furious Movies became notorious for their wild, utterly ridiculous action sequences and stunts, Which get crazier with every passing movie.
Audiences can choose which one they think is the worst: the tower jump, the zombie cars, the space voyage or Dom driving almost straight down into a dam (with his son in the car). Meanwhile, the movies are becoming more entrenched in global espionage threats and damp deaths, leaving behind the realistic underground racing setting. When you think of movie franchises that have completely gone off the rails (or the highway), many moviegoers will immediately think of Fast & Furious.