10 pointless spin-offs to classic movies that should be deleted from history
While traditional sequels typically pick up where the original movie left off, spin-offs take a different approach. They usually focus on secondary characters or entirely new ones, sometimes setting the action years before or after the events of the original film. Spin-offs often shift tone or genre, aiming to expand the franchise into fresh territory and reach new audiences.
If it’s good spin-offs you’re after, then why not try Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Lego Batman Movie, or the ‘Creed’ series? However, if, for some reason, you’re looking to torture yourself with some spin-offs that should never have been spun, then these ten terrors should do the trick.
Quite often, with these films, the phrase “cash grab” could and should be applied. It’s clear that the studios saw the popularity of certain characters and decided to shove them into their own stories with no rhyme or reason. Poor scriptwriting, shoddy directing, and bad acting all round are the order of the day.
When a spin-off is bad, it’s not just one film that suffers but the whole series. These movies are all crimes against cinema; if you can forget about them, then you really should.
10 poorly executed spin-off movies:
10. The Huntsman: Winter’s War (Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, 2016)
In a proper insight into the world of Hollywood, the follow-up to 2012’s Snow White and The Huntsman removed the female part of the equation to focus solely on the male character.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War sees Chris Hemsworth go toe-to-toe with Charlize Theron’s wicked queen in a story set both before and after the first film. A completely pointless endeavour designed solely to monetise Hemsworth and his nice arms, Winter’s War is a dull, visual-heavy snoozefest that not even a kiss from a handsome prince will wake you from. It killed the franchise good and proper, and nobody was sad.
9. The Scorpion King (Chuck Russell, 2002)
The Mummy Returns gave Dwayne Johnson his first major movie role as a horribly CGI-ed villain named ‘The Scorpion King’. This appearance was very brief, but a year later, the former wrestler would reprise the role in a much bigger capacity.
The movie The Scorpion King was meant to be a fun action romp set in ancient Egypt, but it lacked any sort of flair or joy. The story was too straightforward, the characters too uninteresting, and Johnson’s trademark screen charisma hadn’t yet developed into its full potential. Overall, it was a massive waste, but at least it launched the career of one of Hollywood’s biggest draws.
8. Alien vs Predator (Paul WS Anderson, 2004)
Take two of sci-fi horror’s biggest icons and pit them against each other. What could possibly go wrong? Well, as it turns out, everything. This is what Paul WS Anderson discovered when he adapted the popular ‘Alien vs. Predator’ comic book series for the big screen.
Seeing the Xenomorphs share the stage with the Predators was fun and all, but the end result was too muddled and too safe to be worth anybody’s time. So much was left on the table with this film, as obvious tricks were missed, and scares and thrills were in short demand. If you can believe it, it got even worse with Requiem a few years later.
7. Son of the Mask (Lawrence Gutterman, 2005)
Billed as a sequel to Jim Carrey’s zany adventure, Son of the Mask contains none of the original cast members, so it is 100% a spin-off instead. Jamie Kennedy takes over as the green-faced whirlwind, but sadly, he isn’t Jim Carrey. And that’s the least of this movie’s problems.
Son of the Mask feels like a bad Xerox of the original. Every joke is lesser than, every special effect feels cheaper, and the cast doesn’t stack up to what came before despite containing the likes of Kal Penn and Bob Hoskins. It’s like watching The Mask through frosted glass – you kind of recognise it, but everything is blurry and muffled.
6. Supergirl (Jeannot Szwarc, 1984)
Long before Elektra stunk up the joint, another superheroine movie was receiving equally torrid reviews. After nearly appearing in Superman III, Supergirl finally made her presence felt in her own movie, where she was played by Helen Slater. With additional appearances from Mia Farrow, Faye Dunaway, and Peter O’Toole, the movie looked set to be a big hit. Guess what? It wasn’t.
Supergirl was like kryptonite to its audience. People hated everything about it, from the effects to the writing to the performances, and it did so badly at the box office that it prompted the sale of the ‘Superman’ film rights. It didn’t help that moviegoers weren’t ready for a female-led superhero film in the mid-1980s, but this disaster would flopped in any era.
5. Planes (Klay Hall, 2013)
After the success of Pixar’s Cars, Disney searched around for another type of vehicle they could anthropomorphise. In the end, they looked to the skies, and the ‘Planes’ universe was born.
Set in the same world as Lightning McQueen’s racing adventures, Planes lacked any of the heart and excitement of its predecessor. It felt like a total rip-off (which it was), and audiences weren’t fooled. Despite all this, it landed a sequel, Planes: Fire and Rescue, the following year. This was also bad, in case you hadn’t already figured that out.
4. US Marshals (Stuart Baird, 1998)
Tommy Lee Jones won an Academy Award for his role as Sam Gerard in The Fugitive. Five years later, he decided to flush that legacy down the toilet by returning to the character in US Marshals, which is spelt with only one L for… some reason.
This time, Gerard and his team are on the hunt for another runaway, this time played by Wesley Snipes. While the original had intrigue and emotional stakes, this one was a plain-as-you-like cop drama with no nuance, no hook, and no real reason to actually watch it. Unsurprisingly, nobody won an Oscar this time around.
3. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Andrzej Bartkowiak, 2009)
This release from 2009 has so little to do with the cult favourite Street Fighter film from 1994, that it would be unfair to lump the two together. Instead, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is actually a spin-off of the video game Street Fighter IV, which came out the year before.
Simply put, The Legend of Chun-Li is horrific. With baffling dialogue, even stranger acting, and a plot that is both hard to follow and get invested in, this movie failed every test. Its worst crime, however, was putting out some of the blandest fight scenes in action cinema history. Considering that it was allegedly inspired by one of the great fighting game franchises, this was beyond the pale.
2. Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective (David Mickey Evans, 2009)
Once again, we have another Jim Carrey movie without Jim Carrey. Ace Ventura Jr was released 14 years after the previous instalment in the series and, in another worrying sign, was made for television. Josh Flitter plays the titular pet detective, son of Carrey’s original, as he follows in his father’s footsteps.
A cheap, soulless knock-off of the beloved original, Ace Ventura Jr is rightly hated by fans and non-fans alike. With corny jokes and acting straight out of the village pantomime, there is nothing salvageable from this comedy wreckage. Carrey was 100% right to avoid this like the plague.
1. Elektra (Rob Bowman, 2005)
In the pre-MCU era of superhero movies, there was no guarantee that a big comic book release would make money. So, when 2003’s Daredevil did well at the box office, 20th Century Fox were keen to exploit the character further. Even though the original movie was terrible.
The result of this money-grabbing venture was Elektra. Jennifer Garner reprised her role as the sai-wielding badass, despite the fact that she died in the original movie. Unfortunately, Elektra felt very much like sloppy seconds, with a bad plot and no interesting characters. Its cash-in nature was laid bare, and both Garner’s career and the idea of female-led superhero movies suffered greatly as a result.
