10 Movie Trilogies That Declined
There are some movie trilogies that started off great, that started off really really strong but just because they had one great movie doesn’t mean that the other movies were that great. So today I’m looking at 10 movie trilogies that declined as they went along. Let’s get started!
Jurassic Park Trilogy: Now the original Jurassic Park is quite frankly one of the great blockbusters of all time. Where it’s thrilling and directed wonderfully by Steven Spielberg, it’s one of my top 3 favorite movies of all time. And it also helps that it was adapted from Michael Critton’s book which is a great book, one of my favorite books out there. And it really did change the game when it comes to visual effects, prior to this movie coming out they didn’t have movies like this come out. And this movie came out and was a massive box office hit, so naturally Hollywood wanted more so they took the sequel to the Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and turned that into a movie which is bland but still fun, it’s fun to see more of Jeff Goldblum but the plot is a bit scatter shot with to many things going on. Then like most people I think that Jurassic Park III is the worst movie in the franchise, but it’s still watchable and fun to me. All of the sequels are at least enjoyable for me. So this is a trilogy where I think with each installment it got worse and worse.
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy: I’m just going to start off by saying that I’m not crazy about either one of these movies. I think Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 are the best of the trilogy, but those aren’t even all that high on my Spider-Man movie ranking compared to most people. And like most people I find Spider-Man 3 to be the weakest of the trilogy by a good bit. And what’s funny about this trilogy is that Spider-Man 3 is the one that I’ve watched the most, and one of the comic book movies that I’ve rewatched the most. So the weakest of the bunch is the one that I remember the most, just kind of funny the way it played out. And I’m a bit surprised that I don’t love this trilogy the way others do because I’m a massive fan of Marvel and comic book movies, but for whatever reason these movies have never been favorites like so many people think they are. Like Spider-Man 2 to this day is widely regarded as the best Spider-Man and one of the greatest comic book movie sequels of all time. I watched it and thought it was good but nowhere near the hype I’ve been hearing.
Original X-Men Trilogy: Unpopular opinion but I actually like this trilogy more than Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. Where another unpopular opinion…I would go positive on all of these movies. The original X-Men is a really good comic book movie that established Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and a leading man. And it just did a great job of establishing this world of mutants. X2: X-Men United took everything that worked well about the original film that just elevated it, so it’s all bigger and better. The movie does a lot of plot lines intersecting through-out this movie but it never feels overstuffed, everything is developed properly. And then X-Men: The Last Stand is easily the weakest of the trilogy but I’ve never understood the hate that movie got. It's flawed, it's not great but it still has a lot to offer. But like I said the first two are really good and great, and this one is a good enough addition to the trilogy.
Kung Fu Panda Trilogy: Now that Toy Story has more then four movies, and isn’t a trilogy anymore I think that Kung Fu Panda is the best animated movie trilogy of all time. And that original movie is one of the definitive movies of my childhood, I’ve probably seen that movie about over 100 times. And I think it is one of the greatest animated movies of all time. I really do love that movie. Some people prefer Kung Fu Panda 2 and while I don’t agree with that statement, they aren’t wrong with their statements. That is a great sequel that goes in a darker and bigger route. And Lord Shen is probably the best villain of the trilogy with the most emotional backstory and motivation. And then Kung Fu Panda 3 I think it easily without question the worst of the bunch, once again not bad. But it is a movie that doesn’t have the same magic that the previous two movies had. It’s not a bad movie, it’s just easily the weakest of a great trilogy of movies.
Planet of the Apes Trilogy (2011-2017): Now I don’t believe I’ve actually talked about these movies on my blog. And this is such an interesting trilogy because the visual effects and motion capture for Andy Serkis is simply perfection, there is not one shot in this entire trilogy that looks remotely fake. And the later two movies were directed by one Matt Reeves who directed The Batman. And I think that Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the best one, and it’s a great movie that is a great character study for Caesar. It’s the best that James Franco has ever been in my opinion, I love that movie. And it seems like that with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes those movies really hit it off with critics and are regarded as the best of the trilogy. But as for me, I thought both of them were overly long and a bit boring. For a movie called War for the Planet of the Apes there is hardly any war in that movie. So while it started off with a great first movie the two sequels that are widely regarded as better I don’t think are.
Night at the Museum Trilogy: I believe another trilogy that I haven’t really talked about before. And once again that original movie is a great movie, that is such a fun familiar adventure with Ben Stiller in his prime. The supporting cast with Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, and a young and pre-A-list Rami Malek just fill out the cast nicely. Getting Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cobbs as the villains is just fun. And Night at the Museum: Battle of Smithsonian is one that I’ve seen a lot of times, and I believe that was my introduction to Amy Adams. And then the final movie is fine, it’s a mediocre end point to this trilogy. That is fun, because these characters are fun and have a great cameo from Hugh Jackman in it. But it just didn’t capture the magic of the original movie, and even the second one that I don’t think was as fresh, fun, and unique as the original movie.
Men in Black Trilogy: One of the definitive Will Smith movies that really did help launch his career to being this A-list movie star. You got the continued rise of Tommy Lee Jones after The Fugitive and Batman Forever. And that original movie is one of the great 90s movies of all time that has a great soundtrack and chemistry between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. And this movie made a lot of money making nearly $600 million at the worldwide box office. So naturally a sequel was greenlit and was released in summer 2002, and I don’t hate that movie. I still find it watchable and a fun adventure but it is a flawed movie. Even though the movie came out five years after the original movie, the CGI looks much worse and much cheaper. Both the villains are totally forgettable and not very good even though one is played by Johnny Knoxville. And the third one I liked at the time when I saw it, but I’ve kind of forgotten about it and haven’t really wanted to go back and rewatch it. But I do remember thinking that Josh Brolin is great as a young Tommy Lee Jones. And then this isn’t part of the trilogy but Men in Black: International is quite the dud of a movie.
Reboot Star Trek Trilogy (2009-2016): Now as a point of reference these three Star Trek movies are the only ones that I’ve seen. So my opinion on these movies might change a bit after I see other movies. But I think that Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek: Into Darkness are two great fun blockbusters. I kind of go back and forth as to which one is better. Both of them have a great villain, a fun set of characters, and a fantastic score by Michael Giacchino. So since I loved those movies when Star Trek: Beyond was coming out I got very excited for it and thought it was going to be another great movie. But unfortunately I think they made the most bland and most forgettable film of this trilogy. I think that J.J. Abrams’ style and pacing fit Star Trek. But getting Justin Lin who directed several Fast and Furious films feels like they squished a bit too much Fast and Furious into Star Trek. So it’s not a bad movie, but it doesn’t soar to the same heights as the first two movies did for me.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Now this one is probably going to step on some toes, but let me explain here. I watched all three of these movies for the first time through-out June so I’m new to this trilogy. And I do think that The Return of the King is the weakest of the trilogy, and each installment got worse. But worse is a bad term to use because all three of these movies are great. So even though this trilogy is on the list, it’s not the same type of decline as the other trilogies are. Because the worst of this trilogy is better than almost half of these movies. But I did have to be fair with my opinions and lists so I did put this trilogy on the list but it’s still a great trilogy. And with this trilogy Peter Jackson was able to create true fantasy epics with a large scope to them with lots of visuals and big epic battles. And I do think that The Fellowship of the Ring is the best of the Middle Earth franchise, so the trilogy started great and ended great but it was less great than the best great of the trilogy, that didn’t make any sense…but I don’t care.
The Sequel Trilogy: What else is there to say about this trilogy that hasn’t already been said. This is a movie trilogy that is probably the messiest and less focused trilogy on this list. Where the things that J.J. Abrams set up in The Force Awakens is not at all what Rian Johnson continued with The Last Jedi, he took all of the character arcs and ideas established and threw them out the window and did his own thing. Then with The Rise of Skywalker all of the stuff that was so important in The Force Awakens that was missing from The Last Jedi is suddenly more important. So it had this rushed finale that didn’t have the emotional weight and payoff that it should have. And I love The Force Awakens, which is one of my favorite Star Wars movies. I think it’s a blast of a movie. And I’m a big defender of The Last Jedi. I can recognize its faults but I still think it’s a really good movie. And The Rise of Skywalker is better left unmentioned as it’s a mess of a movie that is one of the biggest disappointments of all time. So of all of the trilogies this is the one that I think declined the most so therefore I wanted to save it for last.
There you have it, 10 movie trilogies that declined as they went along. What trilogies did I miss? What trilogies would you put on this list? Thanks for reading!
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