Worst movie sequels since 2000, ranked

Sequels – and sequels and sequels – dominate today's movie landscape. Unfortunately, a lot of them don't measure up to the originals. 

Which follow-up flick is the worst of the worst? We've compiled the definitive list of the lowest-rated sequels of this century, based on Metacritic's scoring system. 

48 (tie). "Fifty Shades Darker" (Metascore: 33)

The "Fifty Shades of Grey" sequel is "fifty times more boring than the first one. It is also fifty shades dumber," according to the Observer. 

48 (tie). "The Divergent Series: Allegiant" (Metascore: 33)

The third and final film in the Divergent series is "needlessly tangled and bewildering," per the Washington Post. 

48 (tie). "The Grudge 2" (Metascore: 33)

The "Grudge" sequel is "utter junk," says the New York Post. 

41 (tie). "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London" (Metascore: 32)

Frankie Muniz returns in the "Agent Cody Banks" sequel that "should have been stopped at customs — as family entertainment, it constitutes child abuse," says the New York Post. 

41 (tie). "Independence Day: Resurgence" (Metascore: 32)

The "Independence Day" sequel — sans Will Smith — is "even more silly, and much less fun," per the San Francisco Chronicle. 

41 (tie). "Transformers: Age of Extinction" (Metascore: 32)

The fourth Transformers film — and Mark Wahlberg's debut in the series — is "an endless barrage of nonsense and noise," according to Entertainment Weekly. 

41 (tie). "The Hills Have Eyes II" (Metascore: 32)

The "Hills Have Eyes" sequel is "as witless and simpleminded as the irradiated humanoids that serve as the franchise's bad guys," according to the Austin Chronicle. 

41 (tie). "Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause" (Metascore: 32)

Tim Allen's third Santa Clause film — and the "The Santa Clause 2" sequel — is "all really a big waste," says L.A. Weekly. 

41 (tie). "Ride Along 2" (Metascore: 32)

The New York Post says to call the "Ride Along" sequel "rubbish is unfair to rubbish, which at some point had a purpose."

41 (tie). "Sinister 2" (Metascore: 32)

"Not a moment of 'Sinister 2' is convincing or frightening," says The A.V. Club. 

39 (tie). "Texas Chainsaw 3D" (Metascore: 31)

The seventh film in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series — and the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" sequel — is a "clunky, lumbering sequel that, like its masked protagonist, has no redeeming features," according to Empire.

39 (tie). "Fifty Shades Freed" (Metascore: 31)

The third and final entry in the Fifty Shades franchise "rarely delivers the goods while trying hard to give fans what they came for," says The Hollywood Reporter. 

35 (tie). "Daddy's Home 2" (Metascore: 30

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg reprise their roles in a "Daddy's Home" sequel that is "a colossal waste of time and the moviegoer's dollars," per the Seattle Times.

35 (tie). "Saw VI" (Metascore: 30)

The "Saw V" sequel is "the thinnest, draggiest and most tediously preachy of the Saw films," says Entertainment Weekly.

35 (tie). "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" (Metascore: 30)

The sixth and final entry in the Paranormal Activity franchise "feels like the last wheeze of a played-out series," says The Wrap.

35 (tie). "The Hangover Part III" (Metascore: 30)

"The Hangover Part II" sequel is "not just bad, but weirdly, fascinatingly bad," writes The Globe and Mail. 

33 (tie). "Scary Movie 2" (Metascore: 29)

The "Scary Movie" sequel "isn't scary, funny-scary, or even just plain funny," per New York Magazine.

33 (tie). "Hot Tub Time Machine 2" (Metascore: 29)

This "Hot Tube Time Machine" sequel is a "meandering mishmash of tasteless jokes," according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

31 (tie). "London Has Fallen" (Metascore: 28)

Gerard Butler returns in this sequel to "Olympus Has Fallen." RogerEbert.com calls it "a horrible and wildly unnecessary follow-up that might actually be worse than its predecessor."

31 (tie). "A Good Day to Die Hard" (Metascore: 28)

The fifth film in the Die Hard franchise — and the "Live Free or Die Hard" sequel — is "the lamest and most vacant of the quintet," according to Time.

28 (tie). "Transformers: The Last Knight" (Metascore: 28)

Rolling Stone says the "Transformers: Age of Extinction" sequel is "all kinds of awful. It's also the worst of the series to date, which is saying something."

28 (tie). "Little Fockers" (Metascore: 27)

The "Meet the Fockers" sequel is "a comedy abomination, tasteless and useless to a stunning degree," writes the Tampa Bay Times.

28 (tie). "Sex and the City 2" (Metascore: 28)

Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda reunite for the "Sex and the City" sequel that "hits a new low of idiocy and crassness," according to Movieline.

26 (tie). "Taken 3" (Metascore: 26)

Liam Neeson's third film in this franchise is an "action movie no one was clamoring for and no one will enjoy," according to the New York Daily News.

26 (tie). "Basic Instinct 2" (Metascore: 26)

The "Basic Instinct" sequel, released 14 years after the original, is "a disaster of the highest or perhaps lowest order," says the New York Times.

22 (tie). "Piranha 3DD" (Metascore: 24)

"Piranha 3D," this film's predecessor, "was ridiculous, gory and fun, everything 'Piranha 3DD' is not," says Movieline.

22 (tie). "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" (Metascore: 24)

The "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" sequel is "every bit as frantic, frenetic, groan-inducing and all around grating as its two predecessors," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

22 (tie). "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" (Metascore: 24)

The "Boondock Saints" sequel "isn't for everyone, obviously; it might not be for anyone, come to think of it," quips the Austin Chronicle.

22 (tie). "The Whole Ten Yards" (Metascore: 24)

The "Whole Nine Yards" sequel is "disastrously unfunny," per the Los Angeles Times.

20 (tie). "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" (Metascore: 23)

The "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" sequel is "an unimaginative, mean-spirited gross-out that forgot to bring the funny," says Village Voice.

20 (tie). "Underworld: Blood Wars" (Metascore: 23)

The fifth entry in the Underworld franchise "needs a stake through the heart," according to Rolling Stone.

18 (tie). "Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son" (Metascore: 22)

The third and final installment in the Big Momma trilogy is "a humorless mashup of 'White Chicks' and 'Glee,'" per the Orlando Sentinel. 

18 (tie). "God's Not Dead 2" (Metascore: 22)

This "God's Not Dead" sequel "operates at the level of your average middle-school play," according to Variety.

16 (tie). "Highlander: Endgame" (Metascore: 21)

The fourth film in the Highlander saga is "borderline incoherent," per Film.com.

16 (tie). "Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj" (Metascore: 21)

The "Van Wilder" sequel — without Ryan Reynolds — is "so blatantly not funny that it might as well have been called 'National Geographic's Van Wilder 2,'" says The Hollywood Reporter.

13 (tie). "Saw V" (Metascore: 20)

The "Saw IV" sequel is "as disappointing as a Halloween bag filled with nothing but raisins," says the New York Daily News.

13 (tie). "Son of the Mask" (Metascore: 20)

"The Mask" sequel — without Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz — is "witless and vulgar," per the New York Post.

13 (tie). "Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil" (Metascore: 20)

The sequel to 2005's "Hoodwinked!" is "one of the most obnoxious and least necessary animated films of the century thus far," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

11 (tie). "Halloween: Resurrection"(Metascore: 19)

The "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later" sequel — starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Busta Rhymes — is "devoid of joy and energy," says the New York Post.

11 (tie). "Grown Ups 2" (Metascore: 19)

The "Grown Ups" sequel is "lazy and stupid and unwilling to put forth the effort needed to distinguish itself even from a mediocre Internet video," according to the New-Orleans Times-Picayune.

8 (tie). "A Haunted House 2" (Metascore: 17)

The sequel to "A Haunted House" is "so dreadful that it demands its own category of dumbness," per The Globe and Mail.

8 (tie). "The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)" (Metascore: 17)

The "Human Centipede" sequel is "reprehensible, dismaying, ugly, artless and an affront to any notion, however remote, of human decency," according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

8 (tie). "Boo 2! A Madea Halloween" (Metascore: 17)

The ninth film in the Madea series is "a sequel so wholly anodyne that it doesn't even deserve its exclamation point," says The A.V. Club.

6 (tie). "Urban Legends: Final Cut" (Metascore: 16)

The "Urban Legends" sequel is "just plain bad," according to the Baltimore Sun.

6 (tie). "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D" (Metascore: 16)

The "Silent Hill" sequel — starring a pre-"Game of Thrones" Kit Harington — is a "cheaper, cheesier sequel that's worse than its predecessor on every level," Variety says.

5. "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" (Metascore: 15)

The sequel to the successful "Blair Witch Project" is "worse than dull. It's parasitic," according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

4. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2" (Metascore: 13)

The "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" sequel is "the sort of movie that goes beyond mere mediocrity to offer possible evidence of a civilization in decline," says Variety.

3. "Scary Movie 5" (Metascore: 11)

The fifth "Scary Movie" is a "lazy, boring, vile and tragically unfunny attempt at a horror-film spoof," per the Washington Post.

2. "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2" (Metascore: 9)

The sequel to 1999's "Baby Geniuses" "is offensive on so many levels," according to the Austin Chronicle.

1. "The Human Centipede III" (Metascore: 5)

The final film in the Human Centipede trilogy has one of the lowest scores on Metacritic. "Even by the series' already low standards, 'The Human Centipede III' is crap," says Entertainment Weekly.