27 Movie Sequels Where The Tone Radically Changed From The First Film — For Better Or Worse

"The sequel totally altered the tone and meaning of the first in a way that feels disrespectful of the original."

Recently in a thread on the r/movies subreddit, redditor u/trolley_dodgers asked, "Which sequel had the biggest change in tone/quality?" And movie lovers came through with some A+ answers!

Warner Bros.

So with that in mind, here are just a few of the most popular responses shared:

1. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Walt Disney Co. / ©Walt Disney Co./courtesy Everett / Everett Collection

"Somehow I don't imagine Kenneth Branagh and Taika Waititi would agree much on the type of character Thor is supposed to be."

—u/ChanceVance

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com

2. The Santa Clause 2 (2002)

© Buena Vista / courtesy Everett Collection

"I have been watching the Santa Clause movies (and new show) with my kids. The Santa Clause was one of my favorite Christmas movies as a kid. There was a restrained sense of realism and drama to the whole story. The Santa Clause 2 comes around, and the whole thing becomes cartoony and over-the-top. Even the head elf, Bernard, who was a grumpy no-nonsense character in the first film, became a flailing clown in the second one."

—u/trolley_dodgers

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Buena Vista / Via youtube.com

3. Return to Oz (1985)

Buena Vista / courtesy Everett Collection

"I remember watching this as a kid and it feeling like some creepy as fuck fever dream. I’d talk about the movie randomly and for years people thought I was making it up."

—u/casual_creator

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Buena Vista / Via youtube.com

4. Cars 2 (2011)

©Buena Vista Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

"They went from race movies to spy cars, and then — in the third movie — they went back to racing with no acknowledgment of what happened in the second film?"

—u/basic_cinephile

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Buena Vista Pictures / Via youtube.com

5. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2 (1986)

Cannon Films / courtesy Everett Collection

"I love both the original one and Tobe Hooper’s completely nuts sequel!"

—u/mindpieces

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Cannon Films / Via youtube.com

6. Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

Tri-Star Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

"Rambo is an excellent example of this. The sequel totally altered the tone and meaning of the first in a way that feels disrespectful of the original."

—u/eastdeanshire

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Tri-Star Pictures / Via youtube.com

7. The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

Universal Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

"Pitch Black was gritty action, whereas the Chronicles was ludicrous and batshit (still a fun movie, but a big tonal shift)."

—u/InteriorEmotion

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

8. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection

"The first Mad Max was a gritty, low budget cop thriller. Road Warrior was a post-apocalyptic Western that kept the grit and the brutality, while adding in some slight fantastical flourishes and more action. Beyond Thunderdome is absurd fantasy and bizarre decisions, clearly made under the influence of many kilos worth of coke."

—u/sweetpapisanchez

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

9. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)

©Universal Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

"I love that they play Halloween (1978) on the TV while he's making his escape just so that they can use the score from Halloween in this movie."

—u/ColdCruise

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

10. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

"The Key & Peele skit about it is dead on."

—u/garrisontweed

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

11. Lethal Weapon (1987)

©Warner Brothers / courtesy Everett Collection

"Lethal Weapon was an action cop drama with a suicidal protagonist. Lethal Weapon 2 was a cop movie with some comedy. Then 3 and 4 were full-on buddy cop comedies."

—u/Eroe777

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Warner Brothers / Via youtube.com

12. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

"It's a complete redesign from the first two movies as far as tone and aesthetic goes."

—u/Breeeezy413

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

13. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

(c) Paramount / courtesy Everett Collection

"It was such a darker turn from Raiders of the Lost Ark that parents complained and it led to Steven Spielberg proposing the creation of the PG-13 rating."

—u/AdamFiction

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com

14. Predator 2 (1990)

20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection

"Predator: suspense in the jungle while characters are killed off one by one. Predator 2: mayhem in the city, starting off with police discovering a room full of slaughtered Colombian drug-runners."

—u/lucky_ducker

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

20th Century Fox / Via youtube.com

15. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

© Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

"Wonder Woman: legitimately riveting, emotional, charming, but let down by a wonky climax. Wonder Woman 1984: everything’s a cartoon where neither logic nor budget apply."

—u/ithinkther41am

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

16. Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)

(c) Republic Pictures/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.

"It's the single worst sequel ever made. It's so bad that every sequel after it straight up pretends it doesn’t exist."

—u/JesterSooner

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Republic Pictures / Via youtube.com

17. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

© 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved

"In the first movie the Wet Bandits seem like a couple of semi-competent criminals stealing from wealthy homes that don't really want to hurt Kevin, and most of the traps are pretty lighthearted. His parents feel bad about leaving him behind and do everything they can to get back. In the second movie, both of his parents laugh about leaving him behind and make sarcastic remarks about the situation, the Sticky Bandits straight up try to shoot Kevin in the face, and Kevin's traps could kill people ten times over. It is a far more sinister movie when you really think about it."

—u/Geistwhite

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

20th Century Fox / Via youtube.com

18. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

©20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, TM & Copyright / courtesy Everett Collection

"It's a darker and more serious movie than A New Hope."

—u/Sutech2301

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

LucasFilm Ltd. / Via youtube.com

19. 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

(c) Universal / courtesy Everett Collection

"The series in general gets more over the top with every movie. 5 is where it jumped the shark, but it was also still kind of enjoyable in a mindless kind of way."

—u/txman91

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

20. Aliens (1986)

© 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. /Courtesy Everett Collection

"Both are great films that I love, but the first is more of a horror/suspense-driven 'monster' film while the sequels are much more hectic action films."

—u/BadBassist

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

20th Century Fox / Via youtube.com

21. Batman Forever (1995)

Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

"There is an ocean of tone that separates Batman Returns and Batman Forever."

—u/Icosotc

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

22. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)

New Line Cinema / ©New Line Cinema/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection

"Nightmare on Elm Street was a pure horror film, and, even though Freddy had a few 'gags,' he was mostly serious and sinister. Nightmare on Elm Street 2, for all its faults, kept with a mostly serious Freddy as well. Then 3 through 6 were straight comedy horrors. When Wes Craven did New Nightmare, he wanted to make Freddy scary again. The tones of those middle ones and New Nightmare are on opposite sides of the spectrum."

—u/MRF1982

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

New Line Cinema / Via youtube.com

23. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

(c) Warner Brothers / courtesy Everett Collection

"This is one example of a film franchise with a big shift in tone between the first and second installments. The first film is known for its dark, dystopian setting and philosophical themes, while the second takes on a more action-oriented approach and features more outlandish special effects. This shift in tone and style was divisive among fans and critics alike."

—u/cuteguy311

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Warner Brothers / Via youtube.com

24. Evil Dead II (1987)

Rosebud Releasing Corporation

"The first movie is a pretty shocking video nasty, and pretty scary to boot, while Evil Dead 2 is more like a Three Stooges movie full of slapstick comedy and some horror. Still an amazing movie, but not as dark or scary as the first."

—u/Sea-Forever-Rabbit

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Rosebud Releasing Corporation / Via youtube.com

25. Pearl (2022)

Christopher Moss /© A24 /Courtesy Everett Collection

"I wasn't expecting to watch a moving and genuinely shocking character study of a severely troubled (and dangerous) young woman because X definitely wasn't a film with the same tone. I was pleasantly surprised."

—u/LondonVista9297

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

A24 / Via youtube.com

26. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

© TriStar / courtesy Everett Collection, MKUP 021, Photo by: Everett Collection

"I think the first was a great sci-fi horror flick that had genuinely scary moments. Judgement Day is a great action flick, but isn’t especially scary."

—u/KCMmmmm

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

TriStar / Via youtube.com

And finally:

27. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story (2022)

John Wilson /© Netflix /Courtesy Everett Collection

"It was vastly different from Knives Out. Like, sure, there’s still a mystery at its core, but everything else about the movie tone, story, themes, etc. are all different and it's still a great movie."

—u/QuarterGrouchy1540

You can watch the trailer for the sequel here:

Netflix / Via youtube.com

You've read their picks, but now it's your turn! What's a movie that you think had a big shift in tone and/or quality after the first one? Share your pick(s) in the comments below!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. H/T Reddit.