The most polarising movie sequel in cinema history, according to science
It’s often the case that the most creative and innovative movies are the ones that divide audiences. ‘It’s a daring masterpiece’, some might say, while others lambast it as a shocking, boring, or offensive piece of art. Many beloved films have been highly criticised over the years – and continue to polarise viewers – from A Clockwork Orange to Saló or the 120 Days of Sodom, mainly due to their breaking down of convention and taboos.
While the most controversial movies of all time tend to be the ones that feature extreme violence, sex, or other shocking acts, there’s also those that fall into the category of being polarising for different reasons. A film might become incredibly divisive because it betrays its audience; for example, a book-to-movie adaptation that completely fails to do the characters justice or a biopic that disrespects its subject.
Then there’s the issue of sequels. A sequel can divide fans if it fails to live up to the original movie or takes a different approach than expected – it’s just part and parcel of the very concept. People still debate whether The Godfather Part II is superior to The Godfather, while many will argue that Paddington 2 is simply better than Paddington.
But what is the most divisive sequel of all time? Stat Significant compiled a graph of “movies with the highest standard deviation in online user ratings,” with two sequels making their way into the top ten. While movies like the cult favourite Plan 9 From Outer Space and John Waters’ shockingly outrageous Pink Flamingos can be found on the list, as far as sequels go, it’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen that is the most divisive sequel ever made, according to science.
Released in 2009, the movie starred the likes of Megan Fox, Shia LaBeouf, John Turturro, Josh Duhamel, and Tyrese Gibson, with Michael Bay in charge of direction. The movie wasn’t exactly a critical hit – can anything be if Bay is attached to it? – and it remains one of the 2000s’ most over-the-top and expensive action movies. To many, it signalled everything wrong with cinema, from its extensive special effects to its huge action sequences that prioritised spectacle over substance.
Yet, this is the kind of thing that many audiences love – it’s mindless and far-removed from the humdrum nature of everyday life. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen grossed a whopping $836.5 million, making it one of the most successful movies of all time. Evidently, people really wanted to spend their hard-earned cash watching cars turn into robots during the recession.
The other sequel that has polarised audiences the most is Babe: Pig in the City, George Miller’s follow-up tale to his beloved Babe, which divided critical opinion upon its release. It’s a film about a talking pig at the end of the day, so it’s not exactly going to be held in the same calibre as Citizen Kane, but many audiences and critics were adamant that it was a genuinely great film, and it has since gained a cult following. Meanwhile, many others slated the film, seemingly uninterested in watching the farm animal return for another 90 minutes of action.
